A Gift From The Gods
by kymbersmith90
Summary: "It is said that the balance of power will be decided by One." She alone will stand between the human race and total destruction. Edward never expected she would land in his arms.
1. Prologue

**A/N Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. **

**Thanks go to my pre-readers Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24. I couldn't have done this without them.**

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**Volterra, Italy August 3****rd**** 1720**

"_It is said that the Gods used to walk among men. In a time before evil, the humans and the Gods lived side by side on the Earth in peace and harmony. While the millenniums passed a corrupt new power began to rise and the tranquillity became disrupted. As his talents grew, the humans began to change. Less and less continued to worship the Originals until all but a few of the Gods faded out of existence. The Originals had to act and they had to act fast. Seeking refuge in the heavens, they used their combined strength to banish Evil to the underworld where his talents were constrained by the Earth, but not before he could leave his last remaining mark on humanity. As his final act of defiance, Evil rewarded the first of his worshipers with eternal life to carry on his work until he would be free to walk again. _And so was born the vampire race."

Aro turned to face the guests gathered before him. This was a tale he had been telling since his creation and it never failed to impress the others of his kind. However, today was different. Today he wasn't looking to impress, he was looking for answers.

During an archaeological dig in Peru another scroll had been discovered. One very similar to the one he was currently holding in his withered hands. As soon as he had heard of the discovery he had sent his best men to recover it and they were due back at the castle any second now.

He paced up and down the throne room of his castle in Volterra, Aro wasn't used to being kept waiting and he wasn't enjoying it. The people gathered around him drew back for fear that his contempt at the situation would spill over and on to them.

At the very back of the room, Carlisle Cullen stood in silence. He had been with the Volturi now for almost twenty years. He enjoyed the company of the ancients because of the vast knowledge they held. However, since the discovery of this latest scroll Aro had become unpredictable. He was scared of what it might contain and had started lashing out at anything that he considered unnatural, Carlisle's diet being one of the first issues.

After much contemplation the blond vampire had decided it was time to leave Italy and head to The New World. He had never been to America before and its development was calling to him. Maybe he could even form his own coven to help with the loneliness he felt. But before he left he was curious about what this new scroll may contain.

The moment the Guard arrived back at the castle the atmosphere shifted. Carlisle could feel it. Before, everyone had been excited, anticipating some swing in the balance of power that may finally draw them out of the shadows. But Felix's grim face spoke volumes. Whatever that scroll contained it would not be good news.

"Well, what did you find?" Aro was oblivious to the change. He only had eyes for the piece of parchment, perfectly preserved, in his chief's hands.

"The humans found only one part of the remaining prophecy. I searched the site myself but there is no trace of anything left. To be honest I think they are looking in the wrong place. This predates any of the other artefacts found along side it..."

"Yes, yes, yes. I know that, but what does it say."

Not wishing to anger his master anymore, Felix passed the parchment along, allowing Aro the honor of reading it aloud to the rest of his kind.

"_It is said that the balance of power will be decided by One. She will be born to the Originals before the second millennium of the Common Era, securing their power in the heavens. When she falls, her protector will be sent. He alone will be gifted with the abilities to fight those who wish to harm her. She will be his charge, vulnerable until the day of her eighteenth year of birth. Only then can she harness her powers and banish Evil forever. _

_The one with the golden eyes will be created on..."_

It was obvious that the prophecy wasn't complete. Even from his position at the back of the room, Carlisle could see where the parchment had been torn. However, his focus wasn't on what was missing, but what had been written. He knew he needed to act fast if he had any chance of leaving Italy alive.

While the rest of the vampires assembled processed what they had just heard he took his chance, slipping out of the window of the throne room, and into the warm Italian night. He didn't stop running until he made it to the coast. From there he swam, hard and fast, away from Europe and towards the New World. As far away from Aro and his insecurities as possible.

-x-

**Denali, Alaska, USA September 13****th**** 1988**

As the Cullen family disposed of the final bear carcass for the evening something caught Edward's eye. He turned his head skyward as a brilliantly white light streaked across the heavens. He had seen hundreds of falling stars in his time on Earth but never one so blindingly bright. He turned to his family to see that they too had noticed the meteor lighting the night sky. When it passed their location the family seemed to snap out of their trace and turned to head back to the home they were sharing with their cousins. Neither one of them understood the significance of what they had just seen.

Millions of miles away, the Gods were rejoicing as Charles and Renee welcomed their child to the world, baby Isabella.

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**A/N I have changed Bella's birth date by a year to better fit with the timeline I have in mind. **

**This has been in my head for a while now and I wanted to get it out before I can complete Project Swan. **

**I would love to know what you think. **

**Thanks for reading**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**As before, this would be nothing without the help of Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24. Thank you for your help ladies.**

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**Forks, Washington, USA January 17****th**** 2005**

Edward had just disposed of the carcass of the mountain lion he had fed from when it happened. A falling star had shot across the midnight sky and was heading straight towards his location. In the century that he had been walking the earth, he had seen many falling stars but never one so bright, so beautiful before. He was stunned by the pull he felt towards it, so when it began its descent straight toward him his only move was to extend his arms, ready to catch the rock.

What fell into them shocked him out of his stupor. It wasn't a rock at all, but a young woman. She landed gracefully in his arms, long legs bent at the knee over his left arm, her own hands coming up to wrap around his neck. She was completely naked and oblivious to it, unlike Edward.

He quickly stood the young woman on her feet and pulled off his shirt, draping it around her shoulders to cover her nudity. She took the garment from him with a smile and slipped her arms into the holes. Ever the gentleman, Edward turned his back as she finished buttoning it and began stammering out his concerns.

"What ha...I mean...Did you...Are you ok?" he finally finished, and then mentally berated himself for asking such a stupid question.

The woman gave a slight chuckle before she answered. "I am just fine thank you, Edward. You can turn around now." She didn't need to tell him. As soon as his name fell from her lips he was already pivoting.

"How did you know my name?" he demanded. All traces of his earlier concern had vanished. Carlisle had told him that their unique diet made them a target of The Volturi and now he was beginning to wonder if she was sent to capture him.

"I mean you no harm Edward. My parents sent me to you for protection. I am the goddess Isabella and you are my protector."

Edward froze on hearing her words. He had heard about the prophecy, everyone of his kind had. He knew The Volturi were suspicious of his family because of it. They believed Carlisle was the protector it spoke of. His father had always laughed it off, insisting that it was another creature they should be seeking. After all, why would a goddess be sent to a vampire, the very creature she is supposed to wipe off the face of the Earth? For the most part, Aro had agreed with Carlisle, although that didn't stop the paranoid leader from regularly checking up on them all.

Edward never once believed that he was the one the prophecy spoke of. Maybe this was all a joke, maybe the girl wasn't a goddess at all.

"If you need some proof of my abilities I would be more than happy to show you."

He recoiled slightly at the touch of her hands on either side of his face but his discomfort was soon pushed aside as Isabella's gifts took over. The forest in front of him gave way to a pure and blinding white light. He closed his eyes against its intensity until it faded slightly. When he opened them he was gazing into a bassinet. Inside was the most beautiful baby he had ever seen. She had a shock of dark hair on her head and the deepest brown eyes he had ever seen. Besides him were two figures, dressed head to toe in white.

"Look Charles, she is beautiful," the woman whispered, reaching in to caress the cheek of the little girl.

"She is perfect Renee. Absolutely perfect. Our little Isabella. A miracle."

The scene faded out from before his eyes to be replaced by another. He was in his home, in Chicago. He recognised the grand piano in the corner of the room. The one his mother taught the local children on, the one she had taught him to play on. It was now at his home in Forks. He had kept it as a memory of his childhood favouring the familiar over the newer models. He glanced around in hopes of finding his parents and that was when he heard it. His mother's agonised cries coming from the master bedroom. He rushed up the stairs and into a room he had always been forbidden from entering.

His mother sat in the middle of the bed, the sheets stained a vivid red. His father was by her side, brushing a damp cloth over her head and whispering his love for her. Edward was momentarily blindsided by the sight before him. He had very few memories of his parents and he was determined to hold on to this one. A high pitched wailing jarred him from his thoughts and it was only then that he noticed the wiggling bundle in his mother's arms.

"_Have you any ideas on a name for him yet Elizabeth?" Elizabeth gazed up at her husband and then back down to the son in her arms. She could already tell that he was going to look like his father when he was older. _

"_Edward. I want to name him Edward after the only man I have ever loved." Edward Senior placed a sweet kiss on her lips before stroking the back of his fingers across his son's chubby cheek. _

The room suddenly fell away from Edward and he had a momentary sensation of weightlessness before he found himself back in the blinding light. An adorable Isabella, about six or seven years old sat watching from above. She turned to her father and pointed down at the baby Elizabeth Masen held in her arms. "Him. He's the one I want."

The scene shifted again, fading to darkness before returning to the light. Here he was looking at a slightly older Isabella. If he had to guess he would say she was fourteen maybe fifteen. She was sat with her parents watching a scene unfold below them. As he looked down, Edward gasped at what he saw. He knew the scene well but not from this perspective.

"_Don't worry son, I'm going to make it better," Carlisle whispered as he sank his teeth into Edward's delicate flesh. The young boy immediately cried out in pain and started to struggle. _

"Why does he have to be in pain?" the younger Isabella asked her parents.

"He doesn't," Charles replied. "You can take it from him, if you wish." Isabella nodded her head enthusiastically before a look of concentration passed over her features. Edward's body instantly stilled and his cries ceased below while Carlisle finished his work. He presumed that the young boy had just been overtaken by the pain and was unable to scream. He didn't know that Edward could no longer feel anything. He was drifting in a dark, peaceful and happy place, waiting for his transformation to be complete while a beautiful voice whispered reassurances to him.

Once again the scene before him faded to black before fading back in again. This time he saw his entire family in their home in Alaska, sat around the dining table. He recognised it well, this one having only taken place three years ago. They were discussing where to move to next.

_Edward heard as every member of his family threw out their own suggestions; Rochester, Ithaca, Vancouver, Portland, Mt. Washington, Astoria; before he voiced his own, "how about Forks? We haven't been back there since Emmett, Jasper and Alice joined us." _He watched as his family all nodded their agreement and then turned to see as a young Isabella smiled her own satisfaction at his choice.

The final scene she treated him to was the one he had just experienced. He watched himself sprint through the dark forest in pursuit of his prey as Isabella said goodbye to her family.

"Don't worry sweetheart, we will be together again soon," her mother assured her, offering one last hug.

"Edward will catch you." Charles gave Isabella a firm push and she began to fall, rapidly travelling across the skies to land in the arms of the vampire she had been following his entire existence.

As Isabella removed her hands from Edward's face he swayed slightly. The experience was disorienting at best, but he righted himself without her aid. Isabella gave him a few moments to process what he had experienced. She could feel his confusion radiating off of him.

It took him a couple minutes to gather his thoughts but once he did, one rang through louder than the others; _I have to get her to safety. _

Edward knew that if The Volturi found out about Isabella she would be killed instantly and so would he for that matter. The safest place for her would be with his family, where they could all protect her. He knew his father would be fascinated with the creature before him.

Isabella smiled softly when the thought crossed Edward's mind and offered him her hand. "I'd love to meet your family. Let's go."

Edward took her hand without a second thought and let Isabella lead him through the forest. He allowed himself a brief moment to appreciate the beautiful creature in front of him. Her long, mahogany hair fell in a poker-straight curtain to the middle of her back. She was rather small in size; if they were embracing, her head would fit nicely under Edward's chin. Isabella flashed him a sly grin at that thought before turning around to carry on their journey. While she may have been slight, her legs were most definitely her best assets as far as he was concerned. The shirt he had given her hit the middle of her thigh and her legs appeared to go on for miles underneath it. A memory flashed through his mind of his sister after one of her many shopping trips. Emmett had asked why she insisted on wearing high shoes. Alice had responded by telling him that they made her legs look longer, to which Emmett replied that she needed all the help she could get in that department. Isabella certainly didn't.

Isabella laughed loudly at the memory she saw in Edward's mind. She had seen it happen at the time from her perch above but to feel it through Edward was a completely different experience. While she knew her parents loved her, baby gods and goddesses were unnatural. She was the only one of her kind and as such, the love she received from her parents was vastly different to the love she felt witnessing Edward's familial memories.

Edward jerked to a stop at the sound of Isabella's laugh. He had been too confused before to recognise what was happening, but not this time. Isabella had been inside his mind. At that thought she let out another laugh and turned to face her vampire protector.

"How does it feel to be on the receiving end?" she arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow and Edward briefly wondered if goddesses had to pluck.

"Um, a little disconcerting," he admitted. "How do you do that?"

"Gods and goddesses are the first beings. We can do anything we put our minds too."

"So, if I asked you to make it rain, you could?" He was challenging her and she knew it. To make her point, Isabella turned around to fully face her protector, looked to the heavens and simply said "Rain."

The water fell instantly at her command and Edward raised his head in wonder before he began laughing. It stopped as suddenly as it had begun. _She is incredible. _

"Thank you," Isabella acknowledged Edward's unspoken compliment and picked up his hand again. "Come on, we have lots to talk about and your family will start to worry if you don't make it home within the next two hours."

Isabella and Edward walked back to the Cullen home in silence. Edward was too busy trying to work out how much his life had just changed to make conversation and Isabella was taking in the sites of her first trip to Earth. Her parents had always spoken highly of it and she was determined not to miss out on anything while she was here.

When they finally approached the river bordering the property Edward looked towards Isabella. She had proved her talents to him already but did she have the physical skills to cross the water?

Isabella rolled her eyes at the vampire and dropped his hand. "This is how you cross with style." With that her body began to rise gracefully into the air until her feet were a foot clear of the forest floor. Then she began drifting gently across the river and back down again on the other side. Edward looked on in awe before he finally took a step back and launched himself across. Isabella had to admit that he was graceful in his movements but he lacked the delicacy her nature gave her. When they were both on the same side of the river Isabella took Edward's hand in her own again and continued up to the Cullen home.

Once they were outside the door, Edward took the lead and pulled her inside. His family were all still busy with their mates but the presence of a new scent in their home was enough to pull them away. One by one they made their way into the lounge where Edward and Isabella were waiting.

Emmett was the first one to break the silence. "Whoa, Eddie, I was starting to think you were defective. You were supposed to go hunting for food, not women." He smirked at Isabella until Rosalie smacked him upside his head.

Edward hadn't realised how bad this would look until he saw it through his brother's eyes. Isabella was naked, save for the shirt he had given her and he was looking a little rough around the edges from the fight the mountain lion had put up. To an outsider it wasn't much of a jump to assume that intercourse had been involved. Edward would have blushed if he still had that ability.

Isabella was rather intrigued by the change in direction Edward's thoughts had taken at Emmett's lewd comments. Although he tried to hide it, she could see that he was attracted to her. That spark had ignited at Emmett's words and Isabella was curious about the feelings it ignited inside of her. She knew she loved Edward, she had watched him her whole life. But attraction was something she had never experienced before.

Instead of disputing Emmett's suggestions, Edward turned to his father. He knew that if anyone was going to understand what had just happened, it would be the eldest of their family. After all, Carlisle was there the day the prophecy regarding Isabella's fall was revealed.

"Carlisle, this is Isabella. She fell this evening." At first Carlisle looked as though he had no idea what his son was talking about. In fact, the other five vampires gathered around them really didn't know what Edward was talking about. Then all of the pieces began to fall into place and Carlisle gasped with wonder.

The leader of the Cullen family took a hesitant step forward before taking Isabella's hand in his own and bowing to kiss it. Edward repressed a growl at the action and the goddess sent him a wink over her shoulder.

"It is such an honour to be in your presence. How may we serve you?"

Edward knew that his father had been raised by a priest so he wasn't surprised by the greeting that Carlisle offered. Isabella however was taken off guard. She knew that very few people on Earth had renounced Evil and still worshipped the Originals. To find one of them in a vampire, a child of Evil himself, was no small surprise. Now she was beginning to understand how important her duties here were.

"Thank you Dr Cullen but your service will not be necessary. I am here to help you if Edward is willing to fulfil his duties as protector?" As Isabella and Carlisle turned to look at Edward, the question written in their eyes, Emmett interrupted the moment again.

"Hello, is anyone going to tell us what is going on?" He looked between the rest of his family as if to ask if they understood before cocking an eyebrow in Edward's direction.

Isabella read the hesitation both on Edward's face and in his mind before jumping in to help him out. "Hello Emmett. I am the goddess Isabella and I was sent to your brother this evening for his protection until my eighteenth birthday."

A stunned silence followed Isabella's words. The others had all heard about the prophecy. Their lives were frequently disrupted by Aro and his Guard as they made sure that the person stood in front of them was myth and not actually associated with them.

"She has to leave." Rosalie's harsh statement came from nowhere and it took the others a moment to gather their thoughts before they began disagreeing with her. It didn't matter to the icy blond. All she knew was that this woman would be a death sentence to their family and she wouldn't allow that. "Does nobody else see that she has just condemned us? Aro will come here in a few months to check that we aren't the people that prophecy referred to. The moment he takes Edward's hand he will know she has been here. He will kill us all and then kill her. We should be running not stood around talking." Not planning on giving the others a chance to argue, she stalked towards Isabella, spat a "thank you for fucking us all over," at her and headed for the door.

Only, she never made it over the threshold. It was like a barrier had been erected in that gap in the wall. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn't break through. At last, she turned around, ready to confront the person responsible. Isabella didn't wait for her to start.

"May I suggest you take a seat. Nobody is leaving this room until Edward has made his decision. It is his alone to make and if I have to, I will strip you all of conscious thought to make sure nobody interferes with it. He is the one charged with protecting me, but that doesn't mean I can't protect you too. Aro will know nothing about my visit no matter what he chooses. You think your brothers and sisters are talented? You haven't seen anything yet."

Rosalie begrudgingly took a seat next to her mate. The rest of the family had already found their seats after the words left the goddess' mouth. Isabella took a moment to compose herself; she hadn't intended to get so angry with Edward's high maintenance sister but she was still trying to control the human feelings that had been rapidly developing inside of her since she began her descent. Then she turned hopeful eyes to her protector, ready to hear his answer. She didn't wait for him to voice it aloud for the benefit of the others before flinging herself into his arms.

"Thank you Edward. I promise, you will be rewarded greatly for this." She peppered his face with sweet and innocent kisses before taking a step back. "So, where would you like to do this?"

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**A/N Thank you so much for your response to the Prologue. I was not expecting that, at all. **

**I am aiming to post every other Monday evening so as not to overwhelm my pre-readers. **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**This story would not exist without the help of Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24. Thank you for your help ladies.**

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**Volterra, Italy January 8****th**** 2005**

The throne room of the castle was bustling with activity and excited whispers. The rumours had spread fast from Russia and Aro had sent his very best men out as soon as they had been confirmed. The rest of the prophecy had been found. The History department at Moscow State University had been involved in a dig close to Siberia where they believed material from the Second World War would be unearthed. Instead, they stumbled upon something completely unexpected – a piece of torn parchment with words, written in a language they could not translate that predated all of their testing. Felix had been dispatched immediately as an expert on this particular field and his flight had just landed at the private airfield the Volturi kept for this exact reason.

Aro had been waiting for this moment for almost three hundred years. This was the missing piece in their puzzle. The thing that would hopefully tell them where and when to search for this supposed _One_ who could destroy them all. He had been planning for this moment since the discovery of its counterpart in Peru.

Felix walked the halls of the castle with purpose. He had yet to read the parchment, he knew how Aro felt about the prophecy and he would not lose his head because he could not contain his curiosity. Instead, he would participate in the charade he knew his master had carefully orchestrated.

Aro spun on his heels, towards the door in the centre of the room when he heard Felix's approach. All around him, his gathered witnesses grew silent, their eyes widening in anticipation. They too were anxious to find out upon whose shoulders the fate of their kind rested. Some were even plotting their own way to take out the _One_ as soon as her identity had been revealed and use it as their ticket into the coveted Guard.

As soon as Felix entered the room, Aro took the package from his hands and began tearing into the protective paper. When the parchment fell out into his grasp, his fervour died down and gentle hands rolled out what remained of the scroll so he could read its contents aloud.

"_The one with the golden eyes will be created on the ninth month of the eighteenth year of the new century. He will rise from the ashes of his family to become everlasting, awaiting the birth of the One. The people of Earth will celebrate her birth on the seventieth anniversary of his death, when the stars start to fall. She will be sent to him, for protection, before the celebration of her eighteenth year. Once more, the stars will fall in celebration of her arrival. _

_She will remain earthly until they unite. When such a time comes, she can no longer be stopped and the gods will walk the plane once more. Only then can the world be purged of Evil." _

As Aro finished reading, the noise level inside the throne room began to gradually increase as the vampires present started speculating about who the golden eyed creature was. Some, like Aro and his guard, suspected the peculiar Cullen clan with their strange diets, jobs and school diplomas; while others began to question the existence of witches and fairies.

"Silence." The command was firm but softly spoken by the Volturi leader. He needed some time to process everything he had learned so far, away from all the speculation and questions

"Marcus, Caius, follow me." He led his brothers out of the throne room and through the intricate maze of corridors that made up the castle the three brothers called home. Finally, they came to a stop at a solid steel door. Behind it lay a room that Aro had banned his brothers from entering. Ever since the first of the prophecies had been discovered, Aro had kept this room for his research on the matter. Neither of his brothers had ever seen what was hidden behind that door.

Aro carefully unlocked the door using a series of intricate passcodes, retina scans and keys before pushing it open and stepping inside. The lights were on a vampire-sensitive motion-detector, and as soon as Aro crossed the threshold, the florescent bulbs bloomed into life. The bright glow made the three immortals look more like the walking dead than ever before.

Caius' sharp eyes made a complete circuit around the walls of the room taking in all of the details they held. To his left, the wall was divided into eight sections – The first seven for each member of the Cullen Clan, and the eighth was made up of every vampire the Cullens came into contact with. Each section was incredibly detailed with a timeline of their existence made up from information gleaned from public records and the Volturi's visits to their homes throughout Northern America.

The wall directly in front of him showed every piece of information the brothers had collected about the legends surrounding the prophecy. It ranged from the absurd common mythology about vampires, gods and goddesses to what the brother's knew to be fact. There were basic timelines for the evolution of the planet where someone had clearly tried to track the genetics back from the Originals to any living relative they may have but all stopped dead at the creation of the vampire. There were scans of old texts describing how time moved differently in the other plane, and someone had clearly tried to work out how to fit their timeline with the one humans followed, but once again, had failed to reach a conclusion. Lastly, there were also numerous sketches of the remaining gods and goddesses said to be living in the higher realm, but none of them could be considered reliable. Some had large red crosses through them and were believed to be gone, others were just blank pages with a name scribbled across the bottom.

On Caius' right was a huge glass display case. In it were the prophecies that Aro had collected so far and many other ancient artefacts that were said to bring power or glory to the one in possession of them. It was to this wall that Aro moved first, unlocking the glass doors and placing the newest piece of their prophecy within.

Once he was sure that the artefacts were secure he took a seat behind a mahogany conference table in the centre of the room that was covered in maps and legal pads. Aro gestured to the seats opposite and waited for his brothers to be seated comfortably before he spoke.

"Brothers, this is all the information I have managed to gather about the prophecy since our rebirth into this life. I think we are agreed that we need to do whatever it takes to find this girl and put a stop to her before she annihilates us all." At the nods from Marcus and Caius, Aro continued.

"Here is what we know so far. The protector of this girl is a golden-eyed immortal. We have been keeping a close eye on our dear friend Carlisle and his family and I think we need to have another check-in with them soon. So far, they have given us no reason to suspect them, but that could all change."

"Brother, is it possible that this protector is another supernatural being?" Marcus had always been the diplomat of the three and he hated to accuse a large and gifted coven of vampires, with a great deal of friends, for no good reason.

"It is, of course, possible dear brother, but we know for a fact that because of his unorthodox diet Carlisle is our most likely suspect. Now, we must move on to what we gained from this piece of the prophecy." Aro was humouring Marcus and his brother knew it. After a few millennia's together, Marcus had grown accustomed to his brother's ways.

"Well, for one thing we know that this protector will be created in the eighteenth year of a new century. We just don't know if that century has already come and gone or if it won't take place for another millennium." Caius sneered at his older brother. In the beginning this had been fun for him too but now he was bored. The prophecy had been kicking around for so long that he figured if something were going to happen it would have already. It didn't matter much to him anyway; as far as he was concerned nobody could defeat the Volturi and their Guard.

"That is what we need to determine, Brother." Aro cast a cold glance at his younger sibling and moved on to his next point. "The part about rising from the ashes of his family to become immortal would certainly suggest that the protector is a vampire but I think we need to look into other immortal beings. Caius, I would like to see all of the information you have gathered on the Children of the Moon and then…"

"Carlisle Cullen cannot be the protector the prophecy speaks of." Marcus' interruption was quiet and calm but its impact was like that of a knife to the heart, or in the case of a vampire, the removal of a limb.

"What do you mean? He is the only one we know of with golden eyes!" Aro's temper was heating up, but his brother would not back down.

"Assuming that the dates in the prophecy are accurate to Earth's time, the prophecy states that the _One_ will be born on the seventieth anniversary of his rebirth and that she will be sent to him before her eighteenth birthday. Carlisle Cullen is three-hundred-and-sixty years old. The protector we are looking for would be eighty-seven at the most when she is sent to him, if this is even true. Have we determined that this prophecy will come to pass?" Marcus' words echoed around the room and his brothers were silent for a few minutes.

Aro was the one to break the silence. "Well, we know for sure that Evil was banished from the Earth. After all, he was the one to grant us this immortal life."

"Yes, I remember, but how do we know that the prophecy of a saviour for the humans isn't just some myth made up by another of our kind?" Marcus was tired. Tired of the prophecy and tired of the eternal life he saw as a curse and not a gift. The idea of a saviour for humankind didn't really bother him. After the death of his beloved mate eight centuries earlier, Marcus had lost his passion for living.

"Well, myth or not, I for one am not willing to take that chance." Aro spoke with finality. His brothers knew this was not open for discussion and resigned themselves to the tasks they were about to receive.

"I want lists of every vampire turned in the eighteenth year of a new century and I want tabs kept on them. I want to know who they are, where they are and who they are in contact with. Until this matter is resolved, I want it to be known that no new vampires will be created on the nineteenth year of a century, by punishment of death. I also want to know about falling stars and where and when they have occurred in the past, back to our creation. We will put these puzzle pieces together and we will find and destroy this girl before she can destroy us all."

Caius and Marcus left the room to carry out the orders they had been given. Even with their resources it was going to take some time to put together the information Aro was asking for.

-x-

It had taken nine days to put together all of the information Aro had requested. Nine days on edge as the Volturi leader became more and more unpredictable with every minute that passed. Four vampires had been turned to ash in that time for not doing the job they were assigned to.

When the brothers finally came together with their two separate lists of vampires and falling stars the castle was once again thrown into hushed silence. As Aro began searching the lists, one name and two dates jumped out at him.

"Well, it seems we may have been wrong about our dear friend Carlisle, but not completely wrong about his family. Three dates manage to coincide perfectly for our prophecies." Aro turned to face the other vampires gathered around him, a manic grin forming on his face. "It seems that young Edward Masen, Carlisle's first companion, was born into our world on the thirteenth of September nineteen-eighteen. Exactly seventy years later, shooting stars was spotted across the skies of Northern American where the Cullen clan prefer to reside. Last night, seventeen years after the first shooting star another single star was reported above the skies in Washington State. Of course, it could all be a coincidence but I think we need to pay our friends in the USA a visit. Don't you agree?"

In all of the commotion that followed Aro's declaration and the subsequent orders he barked at Felix in preparation for their trip, nobody noticed the three nomads slipping out of the castle. This would be their chance to prove Aro wrong. Their gifts were worthy of attention and they would prove themselves Guard material with the capture of Edward Masen.

**Forks, Washington, USA January 17****th**** 2005**

The vision hit Alice as soon as the decision was made. She gasped with the intensity of it and both she and Edward watched in horror as it began to play out.

_The calendar Esme kept on the side table just inside the front door read January 20__th__ 2005 as Carlisle opened the door to their unwelcome guests. In front of him stood the three Volturi brothers; Aro front and centre, with their entire guard and wives behind him. They had even brought witnesses with them to observe the justice they were here to deliver. _

_Aro invited himself into the home they shared and proceeded to the lounge where Edward was busy playing computer games with his brothers. After a few small pleasantries, Aro took the hand of Alice's beloved brother and watched as Edward's every thought flashed through his mind. Edward let out a strangled gasp as he paused on the memory of a naked Isabella falling into his arms three days earlier. There was nothing he could do to stop the thoughts and Aro watched as the family debated what to do with the goddess in their midst. The memories flicked quickly to show the basement the Cullens had designed to keep their biggest secrets from their regular visitors and Isabella who was currently hiding inside of it. Aro wasted no time in dispatching Jane and Felix to retrieve the girl. _

The next vision came as soon as the first had finished.

_The family were no longer in their home in Forks but in the throne room of the castle in Volterra. A fire had already been started and was burning away in the centre of the room, sending thick black smoke up through the open ceiling and into the Italian night. Carlisle was missing from this scene and Esme was hysterical. _

"_I'll give you all one last chance." Aro was addressing Alice, Jasper, Edward and Isabella. "Join us, fight our cause and I will let you all live. If you refuse, you join your beloved father on that fire." Esme screamed again at the mention of the death of her mate and Alice watched in horror as Felix made quick work of disassembling her body and tossing it onto the fire. _

"_Bite me." The words had come from Alice's own mouth and her vision suddenly went blank as a searing pain ripped through her neck. _

Unbeknown to everyone else in the room, Isabella had also been watching the vision play out through Edward's mind. She saw what would happen to her beloved protector and his family if she didn't step in to help them out.

"Well, it looks like we're going to need to speed things up before your visitors arrive." The family turned wide eyes to the goddess stood in front of them, unaware that she had unfiltered access to Edward's mind.

"Edward, I am sorry, this is going to hurt a bit, but I will do my best to make sure you feel very little of the pain."

A brief flicker of fear passed over Edward's face but he quickly schooled his features and nodded at Isabella to proceed. He would take whatever pain was necessary in order to protect his family and the beautiful goddess in front of him. Just as she was about to place her hands onto Edward's face Rosalie interrupted.

"Hold on a minute, what the hell do you plan on doing to my brother? And will somebody explain to the rest of us, non-gifted folk, what you all saw?" She was getting angry again. While she may not have cared for the new comer in their midst, her family meant to world to her and she would do anything to protect them.

Isabella sighed heavily before answering the annoying blond. She was starting to understand why Edward always seemed so bored and angry in his life. She had only spent a matter of minutes with his sister and already she was talking herself out of sealing her mouth shut, permanently.

"The longer I spend on Earth, the more my abilities begin to wane. My body here is human, it cannot possibly contain the power I have without it beginning to fail. According to Alice's vision, Aro and his Guard will be here in in three days and in order to protect us all, those powers need to be used but to do so would drain this body, killing me. As your brother is not human, I can gift him with all of the power I have allowing him to protect us all and for me to carry out the duties I have here. Now do you have any more questions because the longer we delay, the more danger you are all in?"

Rosalie shook her head once, lowering her eyes to her lap as the enormity of Isabella's words took hold. With no further objections, the goddess smiled at Edward and placed a small kiss to his temple.

"It will be over quickly." Her final words were almost drowned by the scream that left Edward's mouth as soon as Isabella's hands made contact with his head. The family watched in horror as the fingers from her hands seemed to disappear into the sides of Edward's face, just in front of his ears. Where the two were connected a brilliantly white light began to form, slowly engulfing both figures until they could no longer be seen. Even with their vampire tolerance, the family turned, as one, to look away from the scene in front of them as the light pulsed impossibly brighter, searing into their mind for a few moments, like a human experiences when they look directly at the sun.

Almost as soon as it had begun, Edward's screams cut off and all that was left was the blinding light. Isabella had taken the pain from him as soon as the transfer began and now, Edward found himself floating in a blissful state as he saw the transfer of power begin to infuse his being. It was awe inspiring and powerful and so very beautiful. If this was what being divine was like then he could understand why all gods and goddesses were portrayed as happy and content. He had never been so at peace before in his whole existence.

The transfer lasted all of twelve minutes and once it was over, Isabella's hands fell from Edward's face as her body crumpled before him. He caught her head, just before it would have made contact with the floor and had her up and into his arms in the blink of an eye. His family gaped at his movements. Edward had always been fast but now, now he appeared to almost be teleporting from one location to the next.

"I'm going to put her into your bed to rest," Edward directed his words at his parents but it was Alice who answered him.

"Good. I hope she recovers quickly because the stormy front that was delaying their take-off has passed quicker than expected. The Volturi will be here tomorrow."

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**A/N Thank you so much for the response this story has received in the last few weeks. You guys blow me away and make me want to write more. To the few guest reviewers I have had - thank you so much, I am sorry I couldn't reply to you with the little teaser the others got. **

**I'm still aiming for an every other Monday posting schedule but I will post a note on my profile and on twitter if anything changes. I'm kymbersmith90 over there. Feel free to send a request. **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**Thank you once again to Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24 who teach me something new every week. I love you girls. **

**I'm a little nervous about this one, so let me know what you thought.**

* * *

**Forks, Washington, USA January 18th 2005**

When Isabella woke early the next morning she found herself in an incredibly soft, warm bed in a strange room. After blinking away her exhaustion, her eyes took in the muted colours of Carlisle and Esme's bedroom before moving on to the vampire sat in an accent chair pulled up to her left. For people who didn't take any comfort from soft furnishings, the Cullens sure had plenty of them in their home.

Edward had been watching over the sleeping goddess since he placed her in the bed. His family had tried to pull him away to discuss what they were going to do about the impending visit but Edward's only concern had been for the tiny girl in his parent's Queen sized bed. They stopped bothering him about an hour after he had finally yelled at Alice to leave him alone. What Edward didn't know was he had effectively banished every other creature from the second floor of the house. None of his family were able to step off of the last stair on the case that lead to it.

As Isabella pulled herself into an upright position, Edward's head shot up to meet her eyes. She chuckled slightly and reached out to caress his face. "We're going to have to teach you some control before your guests arrive."

"I don't understand." Edward's brow furrowed in confusion. Since the transfer of power, he hadn't felt anything unusual happen.

"You're moving too quickly, even for a vampire. It can take a while to learn how to control the power and not allow it to control you. We should start now. Alice is dying to find out what is going on up here and you need to drop the barrier for that to happen."

Edward gave her another puzzled look and she sighed, moving into a more comfortable position to begin working with him.

"Close your eyes," Isabella directed and Edward immediately followed her orders. "Now just feel. Feel the way the power flows through your body, how it infuses every cell within you. Feel how it connects you to every living thing on this plane. Can you feel it?"

As Edward listened to Isabella's softly spoken words he began to see what she was talking about. Behind his lids he could see a faint glow forming. He opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw. His perception of the world had changed. Now he could see it all. All the tiny threads and strings that bound everything together and how everything ran through him. He reached out with his mind and began to pick at the bindings on Esme's silk comforter. In the blink of an eye the material disintegrated leaving no trace of its existence behind. A glance at Isabella showed the bindings she was made of looked a lot sturdier than the comforter but he didn't dare pick at those for fear of what might happen.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that if I were you. If you start disintegrating people you're going to mess with the chain of events that led me here. When you pick at history, the present unravels."

Edward's head snapped up in shock. Isabella laughed loudly at his reaction. It was worth keeping this gift just to see the surprise on his face. "I kept a couple of my gifts. Couldn't let you have all the fun now, could I?"

Edward was tempted to ask what Isabella had decided to keep for herself but left it alone. He knew she would never abuse any of her powers and he felt confident whatever it was she had kept, would be for the benefit of everyone else. He chose to focus on the other issue at hand. Learning how to control the gifts he had been given.

"How do I drop the barrier?" he asked. "I had no idea I had even erected one in the first place." Isabella smiled gently at her protector and scooted over to the middle of the bed. She patted the space next to her and Edward immediately complied with her unspoken request.

"It's easy to lose control in the beginning, everything is new and your already heightened senses are on overdrive. Just make sure you see everything with the eyes of a god and not a vampire and you should be ok. Now, look at the hall outside the room." Edward stood up to move towards the door but a tug on his hand from Isabella stopped him dead. "No, you won't need to move to see it. Focus on the wall and tell me what you see."

A little confused, Edward did as the goddess asked, concentrating hard on the wall in front of them. He grew frustrated after a few moments when all he could see was the cream and gold patterned wallpaper Esme had imported in from France.

"I just told you to use your god's vision, not your vampire one. I know your memory is better than that!"

Feeling slightly stupid for not following Isabella's directions, Edward ducked a little further down the bed and opened his mind, allowing the new powers he had to take over. The threads connecting the walls to the foundations of the building began to appear and behind them, he could see the outline of the hall outside the bedroom. He cursed quietly when he noticed that it was blanketed in a heavy fog. "I did that?"

"Yep," Bella confirmed, a small smirk stretching her lips. "You're badass now."

Edward laughed along with her this time and he felt his body truly relax for the first time since she landed in his arms. "Are goddesses supposed to cuss?"

Isabella shrugged her tiny shoulders. "When in Rome..." they both burst out laughing again before a shriek from below alerted them to more pressing issues.

"So, how do I lift the barrier?" Edward asked, clearing his voice of laughter.

"It's simple really, just will it to go." Edward looked at Isabella like she had two heads and webbed toes before he turned his focus back to the hall.

"Ok, fog…go?"

"You have to want it to lift. Believe in yourself and your abilities for it to work. If you don't have faith in yourself nobody else will and my power will just lie there, useless in your system until I can find a way to get it back." Edward was taken aback at the harshness in Isabella's tone. They had just been laughing and joking together and now, suddenly she was chewing him out for not knowing how to use a power he had no experience with.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm still getting used to all these human emotions. They're rather exhausting." She offered Edward a gentle smile and he returned it, instantly forgiving her. He could remember how disorienting it was to wake as a vampire. He couldn't image what it would be like for a goddess who was becoming human. "Try again."

Edward opened his mind, allowing the threads of creation to overlay his perception of the wall in front of him and the room behind it. Pushing with his mind, he saw the fog begin to lift slowly, rising toward the ceiling, up through the third and final story of the house and out into the atmosphere where it was recycled back to the Earth. "Wow," was all he said.

"I know." Isabella didn't have much time to expand on Edward's awe before the rest of the family were piling into the room. Carlisle approached the bed, the doctor inside of him taking over as he went to examine the goddess but Alice beat him to it.

"So, how are you feeling?" she asked, perching besides Isabella's legs.

"I'm very well thank you Alice. My body needed to shut down to recuperate after such a huge change in power but now that I am well rested we have preparations to make." Isabella sprung from the bed with the grace only a goddess could possess and headed towards the door.

"Um…Isabella," Alice was hesitant to interrupt the woman while she was on a mission. Isabella turned to the tiny vampire and raised one of her delicate eyebrows. "Don't you wanna put some clothes on first?" she asked a little sheepishly.

Isabella took one long look down her body and then turned to Edward confused. In the place she had come from there was no need for clothing. People were confident and comfortable walking around naked. Being covered was a new experience that was going to take some getting used to. Besides, she was still wearing Edward's shirt. Wasn't that enough?

Alice held out a pile of clothing and Isabella took it gently shaking out the fabric to see what she had been brought. In her hands was a white silk dress and lace underwear, also in white. Isabella turned to Alice, shock written over her features and the vampire had the decency to look a little embarrassed.

"White lace and silk seemed rather fitting for a goddess. There's a bathroom you can change in just through there. Take a shower and wash the forest from your hair," Alice pointed to the only other door in the room and waited for Isabella to shut it behind her before she turned on her brother.

"What the hell was that shit you pulled on the stairs? We are all in this together you know. We just wanted to make sure she was ok. You didn't need to keep us hostage downstairs, we…"

"Alice." Edward cut her off midstream, his temper rising quickly. "I didn't deliberately stop you from coming here. Everything is so new at the moment and Isabella was trying to teach me how to control these gifts she gave me before you stormed in here."

"Maybe we should all leave," Esme suggested. She had always been the voice of reason in the family.

"No need," Isabella called, stepping out of the bathroom. She had showered and dressed fast, even by vampire standards. She was freshly washed and smelled divine to Edward's new and enhanced senses. The fragrance of Earth ran through her veins. She tossed her sodden hair over her shoulders and took a seat besides Edward, back on the bed. "You should get used to working with distractions," she told him gently, running her fingers over the tops of his knee.

Edward swallowed unnecessarily and looked back up at his goddess. "What's next?"

-x-

They had been practicing for hours in Carlisle and Esme's bedroom when they heard it. Isabella and Edward were the first to turn their heads to the large windows in the room but the others weren't far behind them. There were vampires in the forest. Vampires with unknown scents.

"Emmett, seal the house. Leave only the front door for now. We don't need to give them any reason to suspect us," Carlisle directed. Ever since the existence of that damn prophecy had been confirmed the family had known that one day, they would need some extra protection in their homes. They had made sure each and every one of their carefully selected houses could be modified to make them as vampire proof as possible. All of the walls were reinforced with osmium, one of the densest metals in the world. The doors and windows had hidden shutters built into the frames to protect them from unauthorized entry and the basement was built to be sound proof, even to vampires.

"Isabella, let's get you and Edward down into the basement," Carlisle suggested softly. She was beginning to understand how he had amassed such a large and peaceful coven of vampires. Although he wasn't a ruler in a typical sense, the way he took control of situations and gently guided his family into action proved that he was indeed the head of the family. Isabella couldn't help but think that the world would be a much more peaceful place with someone like Carlisle in charge.

With Isabella and Edward safely in the basement the rest of the Cullen family gathered in the lounge, ready to receive their guests. The nomads arrived precisely three point seven seconds later and didn't bother to ring the doorbell. Instead, they burst straight through the front door, taking it off its hinges.

Emmett and Jasper sprang up from their positions, next to their mates, to stand slightly in front of the rest of their family, ready to jump into action at a moment's notice. The three nomads were taken aback to find six of their own kind living in such civilised ways. They had heard that the Cullen clan were a strange bunch but this was something else.

They had been planning for this moment since they left Volterra and the dark-skinned Laurent was the first to step forward and address the gathered vampires. "We have word from the Volturi that Edward Masen is wanted for questioning in connection with the prophecy. We have come to collect him and bring him before Aro and his brothers."

Ever the diplomat, Carlisle stepped forward to address the group, with Jasper and Emmett on his heels. "I'm sorry but I believe there has been some kind of misunderstanding. Aro and his Guard are due for a visit later this evening. Any business they have with Edward will be dealt with then."

"I think you are the ones who have been misinformed." Laurent took a menacing step forward, his accomplices following his lead. Carlisle didn't back down, simply holding his head up high.

"We are coming to take Edward Masen back to Volterra and we will use force if we have to."

-x-

Down in the basement, Edward was pacing furiously. He couldn't hear anything through the soundproofing, not even the thoughts of his family that he was so attuned to. Isabella sat patiently in the corner of the room studying the shoes Alice had provided for her.

"This is driving me crazy, what if they are ripping my family apart right now?"

"They're not." Isabella replied calmly, her focus still on the white satin shoes.

"How can you be so composed about all of this," he whirled around to face the goddess who looked like a small child, wiggling her toes.

"Edward. You currently possess all the power of a god, do you really think a solid foot of osmium is going to stop you from knowing what is going on in the room above. If you really wanted to, you could see what was happening in the remotest town in India right now. Just open your mind."

The vampire relaxed slightly and began to slip into his god-vision. The fibres of the universe started to appear, detailing the walls around him, the ceiling above and the lounge that was directly over them. Isabella offered him a smug smile before removing her shoe to test its flexibility.

Edward sank down onto the floor next to Isabella as he watched the scenes above play out. He was slowly learning how to filter out the threads connecting everything so that what he was seeing was like looking through a glass roof. As his vision cleared and became solid, Isabella squeezed his thigh, a silent congratulations for learning some control.

The two of them sat in silence as they heard the newcomers demand to take Edward back to Volterra where they would present him to the Volturi. They both tensed at the mention of force but Carlisle deflected their attention by informing the three nomads, who had identified themselves as Laurent, James and Victoria, the chance to look around the home. Edward was away hunting and wouldn't be back until later that day he had told them.

The longer they sat and watched as each of the three vampires moved from room to room searching for Edward's presence, the more thoughts filtered through the soundproofing in the room until Edward could hear not only his family but the newcomers too.

As they finally finished searching through Edward's room, he became aware of the undercurrent of James' thoughts. He knew there was something wrong with this situation. He was a tracker and having Edward's scent all over his belongings set his gift in motion. James knew the vampire they were searching for was somewhere in the house. They could hide his body but they couldn't disguise his scent.

"You're lying to us." His voice came out as a snarl and Esme jumped in surprise at the first words to come from his mouth. "I know he's here. How did you hide him? Or is _she_ already here? Is this the work of the One?"

Edward watched in horror as panic flickered over his family's features. He wasn't the only one that noticed. "What do I do?" He turned to his left, to the spot that Isabella had been sat on, only to find that she was no longer there. _When had she moved? _

"Contain them. They know you are hiding something now. His gift was not one I had planned for. You will either need to destroy them all, keep them here and away from the Volturi, or erase their memories. It's your call"

"How do I do that?"

"Here, take my hand." Isabella moved closer to Edward. She knew he was panicking and if he tried anything in this mind set the whole family were in danger. "You need to calm down, we don't want anything to happen to your coven. When you're ready, we're going to visualise them being contained, think big plastic box. Then push with your mind. Make that box real and sturdy and make it surround where they are." Edward nodded his head, taking a few deep breaths to calm his body before he began to imagine that box. As soon as he began to push he could see the box taking shape. It was the same sort of fog that had prevented his family from coming up to the floor he had Isabella resting on, only this time, it was surrounding the three nomads.

Once he was sure it was fully formed, Isabella dropped his hands and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Come on, let's go and see what everybody wants to do about them." With that she ran from the room, leaving Edward to follow behind her.

When they reached the rest of his family the three nomads turned to Edward instantly. A brief moment of fear flashed across his face as he realised that the fog he had imprisoned them with was not visible to his vampire eyes.

"Just because the vampire in you cannot see it, does not mean it's not there."

James turned his eyes on Isabella and made a move towards her. He hit something solid only a few feet in front of him and fell to the floor. The two other members of his group looked on in surprise as he rose to his feet and tried once more to get to the girl that had just appeared. Once again he fell to his feet and let out a deadly roar.

"Oh shush. I think I am getting a headache." Isabella waved a vague hand in his direction and then rubbed her temples. James instantly fell silent although his mouth was still open, his vocal cords straining to work.

Edward threw his goddess a flirty smile. "Huh, now I see what you meant about keeping the fun ones."

Their moment was once again interrupted by Rosalie who wanted answers. "Um, is anyone going to tell us what that is about?" She pointed one of her blood red nails in the direction of the nomadic vampires and Isabella couldn't help but notice that the colour perfectly matched the eyes of the vampires Edward had just contained.

"Edward has trapped the nomads in a mystical prison to stop them from tearing this house apart in search of him. Now we need to decide what to do with them."

"_We_? There is no _we_ here lady. This is my family. You have no say." Rose was angry. This was only the start of things to come. She didn't like change and she had a nasty feeling that the goddess in front of them was about to bring a lot of change to her family.

Isabella was about to give Edward's sister another piece of her mind when her protector stepped in. "That's fine. If you're not happy with Isabella being here you know where the door is. I won't tell Aro about your involvement, feel free to leave at any time. You all can." He looked over the rest of his family before returning his eyes to his icy sister. "I'm not forcing you to stay here. Isabella chose me, she wanted me to help her with this mission and I am seeing it through to the end no matter what you think."

The room was completely silent while Edward's words sank in. Carlisle and Esme were the first of the family to move behind their son. They would stand with him and Isabella no matter what. Alice was the next to join her beloved brother but Jasper was hesitant to follow. He wanted no part of anything that could see her in danger, yet his love for Alice would never keep him away. Reluctantly he joined his mate behind his brother. He would stand with them if that was Alice's wish. Emmet was the next to move to Edward's side, casting a pleading glance in Rosalie's direction.

"I can't believe this. You're all choosing him over me? Seriously? Don't you have anything to say? Emmett?"

"Rosie, baby, I love you but I need to do what's right. This isn't about picking between you and Edward. It's about good versus evil. Surely you can understand that." Rosalie cast one final glance between her family, her mate and the goddess they were standing with.

"Fine. Have it your way." With that she stormed from the house, taking off into the forest. Alone.

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**A/N Thank you all for reading and reviewing. It means the world to me. **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**Thank you to Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24 who not only make this readable but also encourage me every step of the way. I adore you girls. **

**Please note, I've played around with the time of the Volturi creation in this chapter to make it fit my timeline. **

**Volterra, Italy 2500BC**

Fire and destruction were all around, houses crumbling into ruin and people screaming in the streets. The three brothers, along with their wives, watched in glee as people perished before their very eyes. They had been some of the very first supporters of the god known as Evil and had encouraged others to join their worship. Now they were enjoying their reward and watching as Evil began to slowly annihilate the gods and goddesses that stood in his way.

Aro clapped and cheered as another huge explosion lit the night sky, the next god falling to Earth from his platform up high. Aro had worshipped Evil since he was fourteen-years-old, after he had choked the life out of his mother. The bitch had slapped him when he refused to follow her orders. Evil had been the voice in his head, telling him exactly where to apply the pressure to take her life and encouraging Aro to watch as the life drained from her eyes. Since that moment, he had enjoyed torturing and murdering anyone who crossed his path. Many had.

When he was sixteen-years-old, Aro had found the ritual that would bring his beloved God down to Earth, while he was rifling through the possession of a priest he had murdered. The teenager had gone to his priest for help when he began hearing voices in his head, urging him to torture and to kill. The priest's response had been instant, he had told Aro that the gods and goddesses would condemn him to an eternity in Hell if he did not change his ways, if he did exorcise his demon. Evil had scoffed at the idea that he could ever be exorcised and had told Aro to make sure the man suffered, begging for the mercy of the gods before he took his last breath. Aro had been more than happy to follow his master's orders.

It was as he was searching for valuables he could sell on that Aro had found the document that would forever change his life. It had been hidden inside a pure gold cross that the priest had kept on his desk. The old man would have never known that pure evil was sat in his very church. Aro quickly abandoned his scavenging to call an emergency meeting with his brothers.

Aro, Marcus and Caius had quickly gathered everything they needed to complete the process, including the thirteen pure souls they would need to sacrifice. It had taken a further ten years of waiting for the perfect planetary positioning before they could complete the spell and grant their god the access he desired to their world. That was three nights ago and now they were given the prime seats in his uprising. Evil had promised them all a great reward for their service, and Aro was tense with anticipation at the possibilities of what would come.

What Aro and his brothers hadn't counted on was the movement building in the New World. The Originals had organized as many of their worshippers as possible and were quickly gathering strength. They wouldn't allow Evil to take over this planet and corrupt all of the goodness inside of the humans. One of the Originals, Paul, had found a spell of his own. One that would bind the unruly god and banish him to the depths of the Earth where he would live for eternity in a fiery hell, designed to drain all of his powers. Another night of worship and they would be at their most powerful - then they would make their move.

-x-

As the dawn broke, the brothers' cocky smiles began to slip when they saw the glowing light forming on the horizon. This wasn't just the sun rising, it was what was now left of the Originals, coming to take up the fight on behalf of mankind. Aro grabbed his family and tugged them into the ruins of the Castle that once held the ruler of this small town. He had been the first to be destroyed when Evil rose to power. From their spot, the brothers watched as Evil took his position, ready to fight for his rule.

When the Originals arrived, the one named David was first to step forward and approach Evil. "Brother Evil, we beg of you, stop this madness and come home with us before it is too late."

Evil laughed, a booming sound that shook the ground the brothers were standing on. "It is already too late, _Brother. _I will no longer be supressed by your reign. The time of the Originals is over. I will be victorious, and I will watch you beg for your life before I make you suffer."

The Originals shared a look of sadness before Paul took his spot and began the ritual that would seal his brother's fate. Evil knew what the Originals had planned for him and began lashing out in Paul's direction. His fellow gods and goddesses had already prepared for this event and Evil watched in horror as his attacks bounced off an invisible force that seemed to surround Paul as he continued chanting in the old language.

Growing easily frustrated when his attacks continued to miss their mark, Evil began lashing out at the others around him. Soon, all that could be seen of the Originals and Evil was one large ball of light, flashing between a bright red, the colour Aro had come to know as Evil's mark, and a blinding, pure white. The ground shook with every one of the Originals that fell and still the brothers and their wives could not bring themselves to move from their spot. They were only humans but they were determined to do whatever it took to help their god to win this war.

The battle raged for hours, the Originals growing weaker and weaker with every attack Evil sent their way. They had already lost half of their numbers but still they fought. They fought to give their brother, Paul time to complete his ritual. They fought for the humans they had lovingly created millennia before. More importantly, they fought to end the corruption and greed their beloved humans had fallen slaves to. They would all sacrifice themselves if it put an end to the madness that had ruled Earth for too long.

As Paul began the chanting that would complete the ritual, the town began to shake. A large Earthquake ripped through and beginning to crack the stone flooring beneath them. Aro pulled his brothers back as the ground fractured, a large gash appearing in front of where they were standing. The gash worked its way across the ground, heading straight for Evil. The god looked up in surprise when he realised what his brothers were trying to do and ran. He headed straight for Aro, whispering furiously in his ear. The other's watched on in awe as Aro finished receiving his orders from their god, who spared them a quick glance, before he sank his teeth into their brother's neck. Aro cried out in agony before falling silent as Evil removed his teeth from the open wound. The god let his follower's body fall to the floor with a thud before he moved again, rushing towards the center of what was left of the castle.

That was when Paul's ritual caught up with him, the ground split underneath his feet and Evil fell. The descent seemed to take hours where in reality it was only a matter of seconds before he found himself in the prison he would spend the rest of his life inside. Paul's face came into view briefly before the ground started to knit itself back together.

What was left of the Originals had already started to leave the Italian town. The humans would need time to rebuild their lives and move on from this tragedy and they needed to go back to their Plane where they would be able to rest. They would need time to gather their strength and if they stayed much longer, there wouldn't be enough power for them to return. None of them saw the last attack coming.

Paul had his back to the group of humans that had witnessed the entire battle. He was concentrating so hard on closing the rift so that Evil would never escape when a weakened Aro made his move. It didn't take much for him to shove the chanting god into the fracture he had created. Paul lost his place in the ritual, falling head first into the prison he had created for his brother. He never had the chance to cry out for help. Before he had finished falling, he was already dead. His body quickly began disintegrating, being recycled to the Earth above.

Evil flicked a smile up to the pained and dying Aro before the human was pulled away by his brothers.

-x-

Aro woke three days later to find himself in a strange bed in the ruins of the old castle. He had been transformed into something not quite human and yet, not godly either. A vampire, Evil had told him. He was to be the start of a new race on Earth. A quick glance around told him that his brothers and their wives were still sleeping and Aro took the time to recall the words Evil had spoken to him.

_Dear Aro, my time is over on this world. I fear my brothers will wipe every trace of me from this plane and our work will all be for naught. I am giving you the gift of life. Eternal life. You, my dear child will become the first of my new race and you will be the one to make sure our dreams come to fruition. Bide your time. Transform others as I transform you. When the time is right you will lead an uprising to be the one true ruler of this land. Sleep well child, when you wake it will be as a vampire. _

With Evil's words fresh in his mind, Aro stalked to the room where the rest of his family were resting. A hand over his cherished wife's mouth, he quickly sank his teeth into her neck, beginning her own transformation before moving to his brothers and their wives.

Four days later, the coven of new vampires were addressing their followers in the only remaining structure in the town. The church they had erected to worship their god was still standing and almost full of people who were interested in this promise of a new world. Aro had just finished telling the story of how the Originals had banished Evil to the center of the Earth when his coven made their move. They quickly sealed the humans inside of the building and began changing them all one by one.

For six days all that could be heard from the small town of Volterra were agonised screams and pleas for help. The residents who had managed to survive the battle quickly packed what remained of their belongings and left the town for good.

As the vampires burned through the change, Aro, his brothers and their wives worked hard to rebuild the castle which would become their home. Aro was careful to make sure that nobody outside of their circle would know about the fracture in the ground below where the old castle sat and Evil who was imprisoned inside of it. Instead, he built a hidden basement under the new castle where he could visit with his master in privacy. He may need these followers to build and expand the vampire race but as far as Aro was concerned they were all pawns he would willingly sacrifice for his king, burning in a fiery prison.

-x-

For the next century, Aro and his coven of vampires were busy rebuilding the town and encouraging humans to come back to live inside the walls. He would need them, not only to keep his cover in place but to feed his growing guard too. The human race had been terrified by the events of the battle between good and Evil and had since taken a harsh stand on all things supernatural. They burned women alive that were suspected of practicing witchcraft, they drowned men who were rumoured to be minions of Evil and they worshiped the Originals with more passion than ever before.

While Aro was busy adopting a human façade, his vampires were spreading themselves across the continents, changing more and more into their own kind, to find and worship Evil. He would need as many followers as possible if he were to rise again.

For millennia, the vampires lived in darkness, limiting their interactions with humans as much as possible and monitoring the world. They were incredibly satisfied to see the rise in science and technology turning more humans away from worship and watched in glee as sparks of light could be seen shooting through the night signalling the fading of another Original. Soon, there would be no more gods and goddesses left in the higher plane and Evil would break free of his godly bindings to rise once again.

All was going to plan, until that fateful day in Peru when the human race discovered the first scroll of the prophecy.

**Somewhere Over The Atlantic Ocean, January 18th 2005**

Aro jolted out of his memories when the on board phone began to ring. He often thought back to that day and to the words Evil had given him before he had initiated the change. He was to be the one true ruler of this world and he was damned if some goddess would take all of that from him.

Aro hadn't been to see his master since news of the prophecy first broke, but his orders had not changed. The two were linked telepathically so all news was already passed to the evil god for assessment. It was his way of making sure Aro was not corrupted by the power he had gifted upon him. As soon as _she_ was discovered _she_ was to be brought before Evil for judgement. _She _was the one who would settle his fate; by her hand Evil would either perish or reign supreme. Both master and student were certain that she could be persuaded to join their cause with the offer they had to make.

"Sir, it's for you," Heidi held the phone towards Aro with a delicate smile on her face. She was the only human who worked for The Volturi. Aro had kept her around because humans trusted her. It was because of Heidi that his coven were able to feed without raising suspicions. She was expecting the gift of immortality before she turned thirty-five. What she did not know was that Aro had already promised her to Felix when they returned home from Washington as a reward for his work with The Guard.

"Thank you Heidi." The ancient vampire took the phone from her warm hands and moved to the small bedroom to take the call in privacy. "Yes."

"Sir, she is here."

"You're certain. She is the One?"

"Yes Sir, I've seen her powers myself."

"You've served me well, Child."

"Sir...your promise? It still stands?"

"Yes Child, your mate will not be harmed."

Aro disconnected the call, a sinister grin already forming across his face.

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 18th 2005**

The young vampire snapped her cell phone in half, throwing the two pieces into Puget Sound, a small satisfied smirk on her lips. She had known what was expected of her since the moment she contacted Aro about her position but she was growing bored with this life of trying to blend in with the humans. Humans weren't friends, they were a food source and one much better than the elk she had been living off of for the last fifty-five years.

She turned in silence, heading back to the city and the strip bars that lined 1st Avenue. She found the lust and adrenaline flowing through the veins of her prey more alluring than the finest wine. It didn't take long for a middle aged man to approach her, inebriated and asking if she was looking for a good time. She smiled, beckoning him towards her position in the dark alley.

When she was sure they were both hidden from sight she wasted no time in sinking her fangs into his neck, draining him dry before he could scream for help.

-x-

The next morning, blood-red eyes scanned the front page of The Seattle Times. A report about a mutilated body, found in a construction site, dominated the front page. The kill had been attributed to a mob hit. She smiled to herself as she threw the paper into the nearest trash can and headed back to her hotel room to await the arrival of her master.

**A/N ****Wow, firstly, thank you all for getting this story to 100 reviews with the last update. I never expected that when I posted the prologue and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me. Extra special thanks go to Choc for being my 1****st**** and 100****th**** review. **

**I try to respond to every review or PM sent my way. If you review as a guest and have a question feel free to either PM me or tweet me. I'm happy to answer as much as I can without giving too much away. **

**Lastly, I want to warn you all in advance that the next chapter may be slightly delayed. I was stupid enough to try to remove roasted parsnips from the oven without a glove this evening and have burned my right hand badly. If it doesn't stop swelling soon I fear a trip to A&E will be necessary. **

**Thank you for reading. **


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24 are absolute superstars. They are the Beyoncé to my Jay-Z and I adore them all. Thank you for your help ladies.**

**Sorry for the delay with this chapter. If you follow me on twitter you will know my son has a serious heart condition and he triggered an episode last weekend. It threw me a little off schedule.**

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**Forks, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

After Rosalie's departure from the house, everyone gathered around the large table in the dining room to discuss the fate of the nomads. As the Cullens had no use for a formal dinner table, it was often put to use for family meetings and discussions. Carlisle took his place at the head of the table with Esme, Alice and Jasper to his left and Edward, Isabella and Emmett to his right. Rosalie's seat between Emmett and Isabella had been left empty as a sign of respect for their missing family member.

"What sort of options do we have here?" Carlisle asked. Edward could see the conflict raging in his father's mind. Carlisle was a peaceful man, he would rather not take a life if there were any way around it. However, he was also a loyal father and husband, and if it came down to the nomads or his family, he would happily rip them apart himself to save the ones he loved.

"You have three options, Carlisle." Isabella took the lead in the conversation. "We can keep the nomads here indefinitely and away from the Volturi. However, that option will involve keeping them mystically imprisoned and silent which will drain not only Edward's abilities but also my own. There were only so many I could keep hold of in this body and the more I use them the weaker I become. Edward may be a supernatural being but he is not a god. His powers will hold for much longer than mine will, but eventually they will drain away."

Carlisle nodded his head in understanding. If they wanted to win this war both Edward and Isabella would need to be at their strongest and keeping nomads mystically imprisoned, just because he didn't wish to kill them, would not achieve that.

"Your second option is to wipe their memories. I could talk Edward through that process but it is dangerous. If Edward doesn't stop at the right moment, he could leave behind a tiny frayed thought that Evil will be able to pick at until they all unravel. If he goes too far, he could send them back to their destructive New-born days which would raise the Volturi's suspicions and devastate your town."

Carlisle sighed. He knew what their last option was, and it looked like the most viable one. "Or we destroy them all?"

Isabella nodded her head sympathetically. She knew Carlisle wouldn't be happy with their last choice. "Yes, that is your final option."

Carlisle reached for his wife's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before looking to Edward to start the voting.

"I'm voting for their destruction. We can't chance the risks of the other two options."

Emmett and Jasper both voted for the destruction of the nomads too. When it was Alice's turn to cast her vote, she shocked her family with her decision. "I'm voting to erase their memories. I am sure Isabella will be able to talk Edward through the process well enough for him to stop at the right time. It will be easier than trying to kill three nomads ourselves."

As the others absorbed Alice's answer, Esme cast her vote for the destruction of the vampires in her lounge. She would not risk her family in any way. Carlisle didn't need to cast his vote. The outcome had already been decided and would be unaffected by whatever option he chose. Instead he took a moment to silently pray that the souls of the vampires, whose lives were about to end, would find peace in their afterlife.

"How do we do this?" he asked. Emmett and Jasper stood, ready to dismember the bodies themselves when Isabella spoke.

"Edward can do it all from in here if you do not wish to watch." The other vampires were a little confused by what she meant so while Carlisle and Esme remained in the dining room, talking quietly amongst themselves, Emmett, Alice and Jasper followed their brother into lounge, a little scared of what he was about to show them.

Isabella squeezed Edward's hand gently, and he quickly slipped into his god vision. He could see the threads that made up the nomadic vampires, stronger than the ones that made up Esme's comforter and even Isabella.

"Will this hurt?" he asked the beautiful goddess at his side. He wasn't opposed to killing these vampires, who had threatened the people he loved, but he didn't want them to suffer unnecessarily and picking the threads that bound a person together sounded painful.

"Only if you want it too. Remember what we talked about earlier?" At Edwards nod she continued, "You have to really believe in what you are doing for it to work."

"Okay. I can do this." Edward was trying to assure himself more than anyone else.

While chanting _don't be painful, don't be painful_, he concentrated first on James and began to pick at the bindings around his edges. The threads that held him together unravelled quickly and James began to disintegrate, his body turning to ash before making its way out of the open door to be recycled back to the Earth.

The other two vampires began screaming, pleading for mercy after witnessing what had happened to their friend. They would have done anything not to meet the same fate. Their begging was hard for Alice to hear so she fled the room taking refuge up in her room with Jasper hot on her heels. Isabella silenced them both with a dismissive wave of her hand before leaving Edward to finish them off. She used the time to slip up to Edward's rooms and out of the way of the vampires in the house. There was someone she needed to talk to.

-x-

After the destruction of the nomads everyone agreed that they needed some time to themselves before they began to prepare for Aro's arrival. Jasper and Emmett had settled themselves in front of the flat screen with the new Call Of Duty game. Esme and Carlisle had excused themselves to spend some time alone together, and Alice had gone for a run. Edward and Isabella decided to make use of their time to work on helping Edward to control his gifts.

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

Rosalie had been running for hours since she left her home in Forks. She was outraged that her family had sided with that woman over herself. How could they do that to her? A few trees had suffered because of her anger, but finally, the closer she got to Puget Sound the more relaxed she became. The run had cleared her head and most of her anger had reduced to a gentle simmer in the back of her mind.

It was as she was walking along the bay that she first heard it. A whisper in the air, calling gently to her. _Rosalie? Please, Rosalie. _

The blond vampire whipped her head from left to right, front to back trying to find the source of the call. At this time of the morning there were very few people around and those that remained were far too busy with their own business to pay her any more attention than a passing glance.

_Rosalie, can you hear me? _

**I can hear you I just can't see you **she thought to herself. Her frustration was growing, and the metal hand railing she had hold of was paying the price. She'd have to work the finger marks out of it before she left.

_It's Isabella, Rosalie. I'm still physically back in Forks with your family, you won't be able to see me. I thought for a minute there I had accidentally lost this gift. _

**How are you in my head? **Although she had spent over seventy years living with Edward constantly in her head, this was invasive in a whole new way. She hardly knew this woman and now Isabella had access to her mind wherever she went and whenever she wanted. At least she could run away from Edward if she needed privacy.

_Why do people keep asking me that? I'm a goddess, there isn't much I can't do. My parents helped create this world and the people on it. We are tied to every living thing…_

**Okay, okay I get it, you're powerful. What do you want? **Rosalie was quickly becoming impatient, so she decided to smooth out her finger marks in the rail before taking off again at a gentle run. Maybe the sound of the wind whipping past her ears would drown out the annoying voice in her mind. Or maybe not.

_Firstly I wanted to apologise. I never asked your family to take my side over yours. I know how much they mean to you, and I know how much you are hurting. I also know how much change scares you but can you honestly tell me the change I am bringing to your family will be worse than what Aro and Evil will do if they found me? My only goal while I am here is to destroy Evil once and for all and then life will continue on as normal. If I lose, if Aro can harness my power, the power your brother has, then he will unleash Evil and it will be Hell on Earth. Vampires will rule the Earth and humans will live their lives in fear until the day that they are wiped out. When that day comes, vampires will begin turning on each other. This planet and everything on it WILL be destroyed. Do you honestly want that for yourself and your family? _

The more that Isabella spoke the more vivid the pictures became in Rosalie's mind. She knew what kind of evil Aro was truly capable of, and she knew he had no problems sacrificing others to get what he wanted. If Evil ruled the world the vampires would come out of hiding. They would hunt humans for sport until their food source became extinct and then they would move onto the animals. One by one all living creatures would die out, and the more scarce blood became, the more vampires would fight. The Earth really would be doomed.

**What can I do to help? **Rosalie envied humans because of their humanity. That didn't mean she wanted to kill them all. She had only ever taken five human lives since her rebirth and those were of the five evil men that had robbed her of her own life. Edward had agreed to follow Royce and his friends after her change and what he had learned had disgusted them both. Rosalie was not the first young woman he and his friends had raped and murdered, and they were already on the hunt for their next victim. If she had ever had any doubts about her decision to end their lives it had all been removed with Edward's report. She enjoyed making them suffer the same terror their victims had found at the hands of these vile and disgusting men.

_Will you come home? Everyone here misses you. You're an important part of the family, we can't do this without you. I promise, your loyalty to the Originals will be rewarded, and I will do everything in my power to keep you and your family safe. _

**I'm on way back now. **She needed no rewards or promises. She had already made up her mind to return to the family and was making her way back towards the city.

_Thank you. _

-x-

As she ran back past Puget Sound a familiar scent caught her attention and Rosalie drew to a stop as she spotted her tiny sister on her cell phone, glancing out at the body of water in front of her. From her position Rosalie could hear Alice's side of the conversation but not who she was talking too.

"Sir, she is here." There was silence as Alice listened to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Yes Sir, I've seen her powers myself." _Sir? Who would Alice be referring to as sir?_

"Sir...your promise? It still stands?"

As Rosalie watched, Alice disconnected the call, snapped her phone in half and then tossed the pieces into the water. She then turned, a satisfied smirk on her face, and headed into the city.

Rosalie followed behind her sister, making sure to stay downwind from her so that Alice wouldn't pick up on her scent and keeping her footsteps as light as she possibly could. Alice didn't seem to know she was being followed as she turned onto 1st Avenue and into a dark alleyway. Rosalie took up a position on a roof nearby and watched in horror as her trusted sister beckoned a drunk to her and proceeded to drain him dry before the first scream could make its way out of his mouth.

From 1st Avenue, Rosalie watched as Alice moved the body over rooftops and through deserted side streets to a nearby construction site. She made quick work of disassembling his body and dumping it into one of the holes that had been dug for foundations earlier in the day.

**Forks, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

After an hour alone together Edward had managed to find the perfect balance between his vampire and god vision and was now able to do anything he put his mind to. He had moved the Xbox from the lounge to the attic, which had pulled many complaints from his brothers, until he returned it to them. He had spoken to each of his family members through telepathy, which had caused Esme to drop a crystal vase in shock, and he had much fun learning how to change the weather to suit his needs. Isabella had just begun to teach him how to manipulate the elements when his cell phone started to ring. The name on the caller ID read Rosalie.

"Rosalie I don't…" Edward's sister cut him off before he could finish his first sentence.

"Edward, I don't have time but this is important. Aro knows Isabella is here. He knows she is at the house. You need to get out of there now. Al…" Rosalie's hushed whisper cut off and the line went dead. Edward tried to call his sister back only to hear a recorded message telling him that the number had been disconnected.

"Fuck."

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

Alice's smug smile was hard to wipe from her face after she had finished disposing of the body of the man she had drained in the alley. She had enjoyed putting on a show for her sister and would happily continue to do so if time weren't an issue. Her master was arriving in only a few short hours, and Rosalie had plans to call her family to let them know what she had seen. Alice couldn't allow that to happen. Rosalie was an idiot if she thought she could surprise Alice after all their years together. As soon as she had made the decision to spy on her call, Alice had been hit with the vision.

When Rosalie turned to head back to Forks, Alice made her move. She placed a quick call to a friend that had been stationed in the city, in case of an emergency, and then went after her sister. The call had delayed her slightly, and by the time she caught up to Rosalie, she had already been able to warn Edward and Isabella to run. Just as she was about to tell Edward who had been spying on them, Alice made quick work of removing her sister's head from her shoulders. Rosalie's body fell to the floor with a dull thud, her head hanging from Alice's hand by her long blond hair.

It took Alice two trips to move her sister's body to a deserted warehouse just outside of the city. A vampire's body became impossibly heavy after the head had been removed. When she finally dragged it through the open door a new scent caught her attention before a voice spoke from the shadows.

"I didn't think you had it in you." Amun emerged from his place in the corner, Rosalie's head already in his hands.

"I had to stop her from saying too much to the Cullens. What would you have done?" Amun tossed Rosalie's head carelessly to the side as he helped Alice with the rest of her body. Once it was finally inside, the two vampires began to quickly bind it with titanium chains. It would soon reawaken and start wriggling in its search to re-join with its head. Although most of Rosalie's strength had been drained after her decapitation, they didn't want to take any chances.

"I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, Little One, I am just surprised you did it."

"Yeah, well, you'd be surprised what I would do to protect my mate," Alice replied and Amun balked slightly at her tone. He had never seen this side of his friend before.

With Rosalie's body bound tightly and Amun in possession of her head, Alice made her way back to the city and to her hotel, ready for her master's return. She made sure that her sister's cell phone met the same fate as her own as she passed by a storm drain.

**Forks, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

After Rosalie's call, Edward called an emergency meeting with his family. Esme wept dry tears into Carlisle's shoulder as he told them about her news and the way her call was disconnected. Everyone's anxiety began to rise as Edward relayed her message to his family, word for word. Isabella stood next to him in silence, a small frown creasing her face.

"I have to find my Rosie, I never should have let her go." Emmett was pacing furiously, worried about the safety of his mate.

"We should all go. If Aro knows Isabella is here we should be running," Jasper pointed out. He had his cell phone to his ear, trying to call Alice to tell her of the latest developments.

"I think we need to split up." Carlisle's voice was eerily calm. "Edward, take one of the emergency packs from the basement and then you and Isabella need to disappear. Emmett, Esme and I will try and find Rosalie. I doubt she has gone far, and we should still be able to follow her scent trail if we hurry. We will meet at the safe house in Ithaca in a week's time. Esme dear, grab a few packs for us too."

His wife smiled gently at him and hurried into the basement to grab the backpacks they had put together long ago for an emergency situation. They contained a few fake passports and drivers' licenses, five thousand dollars in cash and two disposable cell phones. They would be able to stay in contact with each other that way.

"Jasper, why don't you come with us? Knowing Alice, her need for air was a need to comfort her sister. We can split up if their trails do." Jasper nodded his agreement and grabbed the pack Esme was offering him before slipping it over his shoulders. Everyone else did the same while Isabella remained motionless at Edward's side, her frown deepening.

"I can't get through to her," she said at last.

"Can't get through to who, Sweetheart?" Edward asked gently, coaxing Bella to look into his eyes.

"Rosalie. I can't get through. We spoke earlier this evening, and she promised she was on her way back. Now I can't get through. It's like a wall, blocking my communication."

"What do you mean you spoke earlier?" Emmett asked, eager for any information that would help him find his bride.

"I have a telepathic link to humans, I can talk to anyone anywhere on the planet when I want to. But now, I can't get through. It's not that she is ignoring me, it's as though the line has been cut."

Esme gasper in horror. Surely that didn't mean what she thought it did, did it?

"Let's move. Stay out of sight and stay safe," Carlisle commanded. The group nodded, saying quick goodbyes before splitting up. Edward and Isabella left through the back doors and disappeared into the woods while Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Jasper left out of the front, following the faint scent trails left behind by the missing members of their family. Esme took one last look back at her beloved home, and sent up a quick prayer for the safe return of her family before she activated the emergency security system and followed her mate into the early morning darkness.

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**What do we all think of Rosalie now? **

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I cannot believe how many of you are enjoying this story. It makes my day to see your alerts, favourites and review emails in my inbox. **


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24 are absolute superstars. They make my words pretty. Thank you for your help ladies. **

**Once again, I am sorry for the delay with this chapter. I was rushed through to hospital with severe stomach pains and have now found out I have problems with both my gallbladder and pancreas. I'm still waiting to hear more so if updates are delayed, it's probably due to hospital appointments.**

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**Forks, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

As soon as they had crossed the river bordering the Cullen house, Edward turned to Isabella with an expectant look on his face.

"Where to milady?" He bowed deeply, and despite the serious circumstances, the pair had found themselves in, they both laughed at Edward's display of chivalry.

"We need to focus on the prophecy and the reason I have been sent here. I need to see the site where the first piece of parchment was discovered." Isabella knew Edward was concerned about the severed connection she had with his sister but his family were already working on locating her. She needed to concentrate on the prophecy if she had any hope of making it back home to her parents.

"That's in Peru." Edward wore an adorable look of confusion on his face and Isabella found herself reaching out to touch him once more. "I think the Volturi have had that place locked down tight since the scroll was discovered. We will never get close to it. Besides, it was found almost three hundred years ago. I doubt we will find anything even if we could get past the guards."

"We just need to get close enough to see if my father has left anything else for me, to help guide my journey. Your new God vision will give you a much deeper penetration of the ground than any of the technology humans have developed and with my sense you will be naturally drawn to anything touched by another God. I know my father, Edward. He would not leave clues in places humans or vampires could easily find them. They would be hidden well and only found by someone possessing the abilities of a heavenly creature."

Edward nodded his head in understanding. If he were Isabella's father, he would have done the same thing. There was no way he would have sent his only daughter down to Earth without some way of guiding her actions.

"Okay, so how do we get to Peru? I take it your parents didn't include a passport when they sent you down here?" Isabella simply rolled her eyes at Edward's attempt at humour and took his hand.

"You have the power of a god inside of you, Edward. We don't need planes or boats or cars to travel the world. Remember what I said before? Close your eyes," she directed and Edward did exactly as she asked. "Now, picture Peru. I know you and Carlisle have been there before, I guided you there." A content smile graced her face as she watched Edward relive those memories of his time in South America. "Now, place us both in the country, as close to the dig site as you remember. Imagine us there Edward and will it to happen."

Edward still had his eyes closed, so he didn't see the way Forks blurred around the two of them, diminishing into black before quickly fading back in to the lush greens and deep browns of the Peruvian Amazon. He did, however, feel the immediate change in humidity and snapped his eyes open in surprise as he felt his skin begin to warm under its new climate.

"Wow. This is something I could get used to." He spun slowly, taking in the lofty trees on either side of the small clearing he and Isabella had found themselves in. The area was crawling with wildlife; from the tiniest of insects to the largest of mammals, all going about their business as if the world's most deadly predator was not in their habitat. Isabella let Edward take a minute to walk around, delighting in how happy he was watching these creatures so closely. From Edward's mind she could see he had never been this close to an animal he wasn't hunting before.

The question had already formed in his mind before he opened his mouth to ask it and Isabella hurried to put him at ease. "I can't be certain of what is happening but as gods, we don't need to eat or drink. We can do so without causing ourselves harm, but it is not necessary for us to survive. I think it is that instinct that is overwhelming your vampire nature. You probably won't need to hunt as often as you used to, if at all. As for the animals, they can sense the pure goodness inside of you coming from the power I gave to you. They are more at ease with you in their presence than without you here. Animals have much greater instincts than humans and they trust them fully. They know you won't hurt them."

"So I could explore for a while, watch the animals while I can?" Isabella picked up on the hidden tenor of Edward's thoughts. He missed being able to connect with animals the way he once did as a human. He vaguely remembered the dog his family had owned while he was human and the way it used to lick his face every morning. Duke, he thought it was called, but he couldn't be sure. The closest he got to that now was dodging the claws of a bear, intent on ripping his face off, before he ended the poor creature's life.

"Go wild." She snorted at her own poor joke and sat back against the trunk of a tree to watch as Edward moved slowly around the rainforest. He was awed by the change in the way these creatures viewed him because of the power inside of him. Normally even insects fled from his presence, but not here. A multitude of rainbow coloured butterflies landed on his shoulders and in his hair, before taking flight again. He watched a curious jaguar cub chase an armadillo across the forest floor before running back to his mother again. Edward even had the chance to pet a short-eared dog before Isabella called his attention back to her.

"It's getting late, we should be heading to the site." In all of his enthusiasm, Edward hadn't noticed twilight falling in the rainforest. "I promise, when all of this is over, we can come back and you can spend as long as you would like interacting with the wildlife."

"Thank you. I'd like that." He took one last look at this beautiful haven and held his hand out for Isabella's. He made up his mind there and then to spend some time here after everything was finished. Carlisle would love to share this experience with his favourite son and Edward knew, deep down, that he could gift that to him with his new abilities.

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

Jasper and Emmett had tracked Alice and Rosalie's scents to the bay overlooking Puget Sound. Their mates had not followed the same path to get there, but that was easily explained by Alice's visions. She would not have needed to follow Rosalie's scent to track her, she would have seen where her sister was heading as soon as she made the decision to go there.

From the bay, both of their scents merged and headed towards the downtown area of the city. Emmett was too concerned about finding his mate to give much thought to where they were headed. Jasper however, was more than a little curious. Alice and Rosalie had no reason to head towards 1st Avenue and yet, both of their scents disappeared in different locations in the area.

Esme was the one to voice what her military minded son had been thinking. "Why would Alice's trail end in a seedy alleyway behind a strip club and why would Rosalie's end on the roof of the building across the street? That makes no sense at all."

"It's almost like Rosalie was spying on someone down here, but the only other scents I pick up with Alice's are human." Jasper's thoughts slipped out in a detached monotone. His mind had come up with a logical explanation for what they had discovered but his heart was busy pushing it aside. There is no way that Alice would ever betray him.

"Maybe Rosalie was spying on Alice. Maybe she picked up some unwanted attention down here and Rosalie was just watching to make sure nothing happened." Even to Emmett's ears his explanation sounded like garbage but it was the only reason he could come up with to explain the scent patterns.

"Why are they both cut off here? There should be a trail to wherever they went from here." Esme was becoming slightly hysterical. She couldn't get Isabella's words about their severed connection out of her mind.

"Too many humans have passed through the area since Rose and Alice did. Their scent completely overwhelms both of theirs. It's not that there is no trail, it's just impossible to find it." Jasper was beginning to pace. Vampires didn't pace. His logical mind was screaming at him that something wasn't right, that Alice's actions weren't right but his heart would have none of it. She had saved him from the direction his eternal life would have taken had she not found him in that diner. She was the one that brought them to the Cullens. She knew their unusual diet would ease his guilty conscience. So why, would Rosalie be spying on her if she had done nothing wrong?

-x-

On the other side of the city, Aro and his Guard had settled into their hotel suite to wait for their guests. As soon as the plane had touched down, Demetri had sensed a change in Carlisle Cullen's location. He had moved from his tiny town, that he was so fond of, to the city they had landed in. Caius had wanted to confront the traitor immediately but Aro had convinced his hot-headed brother to wait. He would forever be on Demetri's radar after their initial meeting in Volterra and Aro was convinced that Carlisle would take him to _the One. _

A short, sharp knock on the door interrupted the conversation in the room and Heidi pulled the door open. Alice was the first to enter the room, her face the perfect mask of calm. Amun followed closely behind, casting an appreciative gaze over the only human present. Both vampires stopped in front of the sofa the three brothers and their wives sat on, bowing deeply.

"Master, it is good to see you again," Alice took Aro's hand in her own, kissed the back of it and held on as she watched Aro sort through all of her recent memories. It took Aro a few minutes longer than it usually did to watch Alice's every thought play out before his eyes. The scenes featuring Isabella and Edward were the most fascinating to him and even after he had dropped the young vampire's hand, he continued to replay them in his own mind.

"It seems that _the One_ has a name, brothers and sisters. Isabella fell to Earth only two nights ago and was caught by young Edward Cullen, as we suspected. Alice here has seen her, spoken to her and knows a few of her weaknesses." At this the other vampires in the room stopped pretending to ignore the conversation Aro was sharing with his family. Every eye and ear in the room was trained directly on the knowledge that Aro was about to share.

"Apparently, the longer Isabella is on the Earth, the more her gifts will fade in her human body. To prevent the complete loss of her gifts, she has passed most of them to Edward. His supernatural body is more equipped to handle the power than Isabella's human one. However, Edward is not used to controlling that kind of power. Isabella has been teaching him how to use it but he is still sloppy. This could work to our favour." A few of the others in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

"Then we must strike now. Take them both while they are at their weakest." Caius was always ready for a fight and this time was no different.

"Edward may be unpredictable with his new powers but that doesn't mean that he is not dangerous, brother. Alice has seen him destroy three vampires, without even touching them."

"It's true," Alice rushed to help her master. "He disintegrated them with only a look. Isabella said he could do it from any location in the house. He could take out the entire guard in a matter of seconds. While she was resting, he was able to keep us all trapped on the ground floor of our home, without knowing what he was doing. His emotions trigger his gifts and at the moment, he is as his most volatile. I don't think it is wise to jump into anything just now. Let us plan and learn more first. He will have a weakness, let's find it and destroy him before he destroys us."

Aro beamed at Alice. She had been a wonderful find and since her discovery she had become one of his favourites. He couldn't wait for all of this to be over so that she could come home to him, to her place by his side. Preferably without the empath she called a mate.

Caius fumed silently at being put in his place by a member of the guard. He had always disliked Alice, ever since she first set foot inside the castle. He had never fully trusted her intentions and he still didn't. Her gift gave her far too much power. Aro had read her mind countless times over the decades and had never once found a malicious thought against them. Still, he couldn't shake the gut feeling that she would be their downfall.

"So what do we do now?"

"Masters, if I may interrupt, I have a gift for you in a warehouse on the outskirts of town. Would you like to see it?"

"Yes, Alice, I would." Aro's smile was slightly maniacal as he rose from the sofa, to follow Alice out of the suite.

-x-

It was a particularly dreary day in Seattle and there were very few humans out on the streets. As the thunder rumbled in the skies above, the sounds of cars swishing by, throwing up the water laying on the road was the perfect accompaniment to guarantee few witnesses. Aro, Renata and Felix had decided to make the journey with Alice and Amun, leaving the rest of the Volturi at the hotel so as to avoid making a scene.

It took them three hours to walk, at a human pace, from the hotel to the warehouse Rosalie's body had been placed in. Aro was quite enjoying himself. He very rarely left the castle anymore and definitely not when he needed to blend in with humans. As mundane as it was to walk at less than half of his normal speed, he found it fascinating to watch the few humans around him run from location to location to avoid getting wet.

When they entered the warehouse, Aro's eyes lit up with glee when he took in the site of Rosalie's headless body, chained to the walls. Although she went out of her way to avoid them when Aro paid her family a visit, he would know her body anywhere.

"What have you done with her head?" Aro couldn't take his eyes off of the site before him. It was gruesomely beautiful and would provide the leverage he needed to help win this war.

"It's back at my apartment, master," Amun spoke up for the first time since he had found himself in the presence of vampire royalty.

"Bring it back, immediately. I want to question Miss Hale as soon as possible."

"Master, are you sure that is a good idea?" Alice looked hesitant to question Aro but she also knew that if Rosalie broke free, her cover would be blown once and for all. "She heard my conversation with you, she saw me feed and she called Edward to warn him about me. What if she broke lose?"

"Never fear, my love," Aro, ran the back of his withered hand down Alice's face. She supressed a shiver and instead leaned into his touch. "I have a plan."

**Just Outside Rioja, Peru January 19th 2005**

Edward and Isabella had to be more careful about how they made their way to the excavation site of the prophecy. It was fine to materialise out of nowhere when you were only surrounded by animals, but doing that in front of humans would only end up with the Volturi hot on their heels.

It took them just under two hours to hike to the site of the dig that had discovered the first scroll prophesising Isabella's journey to Earth. After its initial discovery, the Volturi had used one of its many covers to buy the site and keep it from unwanted attention. Carlisle had told Edward about the hundreds of gifted vampires that Aro had been rumoured to send to the location with the hopes of them finding another clue about the downfall of the vampire race.

The whole area had been combed over and over again but finally, almost fifty years after its discovery, Aro had been forced to admit that there was nothing else there to be found. Felix had been right, all of the other artefacts were dated much later than the prophecy. It was almost as if it had been placed with the other items, years after they had been lost.

As Edward had predicted, the area was crawling with vampires when they arrived. Isabella kept a close hold of Edward's hand and kept him well hidden in the shadows. If any one of the vampires had caught their scent, she would need Edward to react fast and she wasn't sure he was ready for that yet.

"What do we do now?" Edward's eyes were frantically scanning the area, cataloguing the movements of the vampires to try and find a weak spot. If the site had been guarded by humans, he and Isabella would have easily been able to slip through. That was never going to happen with the heightened senses and the speed of the vampires patrolling. "There is no way we will make it any closer without being spotted."

"We don't need to get any closer. Just concentrate. If my father has been here, you should be able to sense it. It will start like a tugging, in the back of your mind, an instinct to look or listen in one direction. Can you feel it?"

Edward focused as hard as he could. He relaxed his mind, cleared it of the thoughts around him, of everything but the tugging sensation Isabella had described. The only tugging sensation he found was coming from the girl next to him. He tried again, willing himself to feel something, anything, which would help them in their journey. Isabella could hear his internal struggles, the way he begged to feel something and her heart broke a little every time he came up empty. She was relying on some kind of guidance from her father. If she and Edward truly were all alone on this planet then she had a lot more work to do than she initially thought.

Edward turned and pulled Isabella into his arms, hugging her body tightly to his own, a silent sorry for not finding anything. He raised his head to place a soft kiss on top of her own and froze, his lips to her silken hair. Isabella pulled back slightly to see what had caught Edward's attention but he was staring into the trees they had emerged from.

"Um, Isabella, I think I found your father's message."

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. The stats for this story have exploded and I cannot thank you all enough for that. It really does brighten my day to see your messages in my box. **


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**Thanks once again to Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24 who find the time to work on this even though they are busy with their own fics and real life. **

**WARNING: A brief warning before this chapter. Aro is evil and he likes to prove that with his choice of prey. There are no graphic descriptions of death but he does talk about his hunt. If you would like to skip over those parts feel free too. It's the last paragraph of the first Seattle section and the first paragraph of the last Seattle section. **

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 19th 2005**

Aro had summoned for Jane and her brother Alec while Amun was retrieving Rosalie's head. He would use the twins and their unique gifts to keep the vampire in order once she had been reassembled. Until then, he needed to hunt.

"Alice, my Darling, I'm feeling a little peckish, would you care to join me?" Aro attempted what he thought was a flirtatious smile, but actually came across as creepy. Alice placed her own seductive smile on her face before answering the ancient vampire.

"I fed only last night, Aro. That is how Rosalie caught me, but please, go ahead." She gestured to the doors of the warehouse and Aro's smile fell. He was rather looking forward to seeing her in action. He had often fantasised about the way her body would move as she stalked and claimed her prey.

"Of course, I will return shortly. Please inform the others as to where I am if they arrive before I do." He placed a tender kiss to the top of Alice's head and sped off out of the warehouse and towards the sounds of laughter and innocence. Aro was in the mood for something young and fresh today and as luck would have it, school was just letting out.

-x-

While Aro was gone, Alice paced the warehouse trying to plot out her next move. When she had made the suggestion to watch over the Cullens, she never imagined that it would involve such drastic actions. She had only been thinking about Jasper and how to keep him safe.

**Nashville, Tennessee, USA October 5****th**** 1927**

The bar that Alice had found herself outside of smelled like sweat, alcohol and sex. This was the perfect hunting ground and now, like the perfect predator she was, Alice had to wait for her prey. She knew that in order to draw as little attention to herself as possible, she had to be patient. She couldn't just take anyone, it had to be a loner, someone who wouldn't be missed if they never returned home that evening.

She had waited, hidden by the shadows for three hours, watching as couples and groups of drunken people spilled out of the bar and into the roads, flaming the fire in her throat. Every time she dropped down into a crouch, ready to spring at her meal, a voice in the back of her head told her to wait, to remember the rules. _Don't draw attention to yourself. If your kills start to attract their attention they will come and they will end you. Stay safe Mary. _

Alice didn't remember much about her life before she woke up in a Mental Asylum in Biloxi. She couldn't even be sure that the voice in her mind was an actual voice and not just one she had created during her change. Who was Mary? All she knew was she had to follow _his_ guidance. It was what _he_ had wanted for her. She had felt it deep inside as soon as she recalled the memory of his voice.

That is why she found herself waiting for her meal to come to her, instead of just taking what she wanted. It was as she was waiting that the images came to her. The visions had been coming more regularly as the years passed, and she wasn't shocked by them anymore. Instead she closed her eyes to savour the images that were being projected into her mind.

_The blond male vampire was watching silently from his position in the corner of the room as a woman was making quick work of changing soldier after soldier after soldier into vampires of her own. He held his breath until the sensation became uncomfortable before escaping out of the room and running as fast as he could. _

_A few minutes into his run another vampire, much bigger built than the blond, had caught up to him. "Jasper, brother, talk to me." _

"_I don't think I can do this much longer Peter. With every life she takes, the emotions become more and more overwhelming. I feel guilty for the pain and suffering she is inflicting. I feel guilty for the destruction her wars are causing, not only to our kind but to theirs too. And I am worried. The Volturi haven't acted, yet, but they are close. I can feel it." The blond vampire, Jasper, slid down to sit on the bare grass below his feet. _

_Peter mimicked his position from the opposite side of the clearing. "Then why don't we run? If we leave now, while she is busy with those new recruits, we can be out of the State by the time she notices we have left." _

"_You've seen what happens to those who run, Peter. Do you really want that for yourself? For Charlotte?" Jasper sighed heavily, too heavily for the young man he looked to be. _

"_I won't stay here Jasper. You know just as well as I do that she will end Charlotte as soon as she has served her purpose. I won't see that happen to my mate, I cannot. Charlotte and I will be leaving soon. Say you will join us." _

"_I'll think about it." _

The first vision faded out and the next one hit Alice just as hard. She staggered back into the wall behind her with the intensity it brought.

_Jasper was on his knees, three women on either side of him and his friend Peter to the far left. They were surrounded by figures in dark cloaks. All but one of them had their hood over their heads, making it impossible to see their identity. The one without his hood had a small smile on his lips as he addressed his hostages. _

"_I am so sorry that things have come to this. I did hope, that with a little time you would get the destructive urges out of your system but that doesn't seem to hold true. The humans have noticed your activities. They are becoming suspicious and I cannot have them discovering the truth. Your wars have broken the one law of our kind and therefore, it is with deep regret that I must sentence you all to death." The dark haired vampire before them nodded almost imperceptibly to the row of guards behind his captives and as one they moved forward, decapitating the condemned. _

Alice was breathing heavily, gasping for breath as she came out of her second vision. The blond vampire would die if she didn't do something to help him. She wasn't sure why but an instinct inside of her, stronger than the bloodlust, demanded that she do anything she could to prevent his death. It was as she made the decision to help Jasper that the last vision of the night hit. It was the one that would drive all thoughts of feeding from her mind for weeks to come.

_The sign said Welcome To Little Rock, Arkansas. The scenery around the city flickered past as she ran before refocusing on a small diner on the outskirts of town. It was a wet and dreary day, very few humans were on the streets and so Alice had decided to sit and enjoy the warmth the small eatery offered. While it would do nothing to warm her skin, the heat made her feel a little less cold and unwanted. Alice had chosen a seat by the counter and was warming her hands on a cup of stale coffee when the bell above the door chimed. A quick glance at the wall clock told her that it was three pm. She turned slowly to face the newcomer and smirked at his surprise. "Took you long enough, Jasper Whitlock," she winked in his direction._

**Dallas, Texas, USA January 17****th**** 1928**

It had been three months since those first visions of Jasper Whitlock. Since then, Alice had done as much research as she could on the blond vampire and his friends. She had heard through a nomad, Alistair, that Maria was Jasper's creator and that she had changed him as part of her war for territory in the South. He was taken during his time serving in the Civil War because Maria had thought his training as a major would be useful in keeping her newborn soldiers under control. She had kept Jasper around much longer than any of her previous companions because of his unique gift. Alice had been stunned when she heard that Jasper was an empath. Her vision made much more sense now that she knew Jasper could feel the emotions of those around him, human or vampire.

Alistair had also told Alice more about the hooded figures that had killed Jasper and his companions. Apparently they were the rulers of the vampire world and their job was to enforce the laws of her kind. Alice didn't even know there were laws.

Alistair told Alice about how he went out of his way to avoid the Volturi. Aro, the one that had been giving orders in Alice's vision, had always been known as the most sadistic vampire on Earth. However, as soon as the prophecy had been discovered, many had felt his sadism had switched to obsession. He made it his goal in life to collect every gifted vampire on the planet, to make sure that he was fully prepared for the up and coming war. Alistair was not gifted, but he had seen many of his fellow vampires fall under the Volturi's spell with their promises of a better world for their own kind.

After her meeting with Alistair, Alice had gone for a quick hunt before making her way to the local library. At this time of the evening, there were very few humans around to provide distractions. She began by searching the local papers for any mentions of a Jasper Whitlock. She found his birth announcement dated back to 1844 and then nothing else until a small article mentioning how he had become the youngest major of the confederate army in Texan history. After that, Jasper Whitlock was never mentioned again.

Finding out information on the Volturi and the Southern territory wars had been much more difficult. Humans had no knowledge of the vampire world, hiding in the darkness so of course, there were no records of their history. However, after a few visits to nomads that she had encountered since her change, Alice had found out enough to formulate a plan.

_Aro and his brothers were gathered in the throne room of their castle, listening as members of their guard relayed information about the Southern wars taking place and who were responsible for them. _

"_Humans are beginning to notice that there is something going on. The murder rate is through the roof, the local authorities cannot keep on top of the crime wave, and it is causing the towns people to panic. There is talk of witchcraft and exorcisms. It is my professional opinion that we need to step in now, offer some kind of explanation that the humans can understand and put an end to these territorial wars once and for all." _

"_I think you may be right Felix." Aro offered the gather court a brief smile before continuing. "The more humans panic, the more they turn back to The Originals. I cannot have them gaining more power in this world." Many members of the court rolled their eyes at Aro's reference to the damned prophecy once again. Nothing had happened so far and they were sick of hearing about it. "Ready the Guard. I want to leave before the New Year. " _

As Alice came out of her vision she cast a brief glance at the newspaper on her desk. It was already the seventeenth day of the New Year. She knew that her vision had yet to pass, she only ever saw events that were about to happen or were happening in real time. That left her less than a year to save Jasper Whitlock's life.

**Just Outside Rioja, Peru January 20th 2005**

Edward turned and pulled Isabella into his arms, hugging her body tightly to his own, a silent sorry for not finding anything. He raised his head to place a soft kiss on top of her own and froze, his lips to her silken hair. Isabella pulled back slightly to see what had caught Edward's attention but he was staring into the trees they had emerged from.

"Um, Isabella, I think I found your father's message."

Isabella spun quickly around, her eyes following Edward's which seemed to be locked onto the largest tree just behind where her left shoulder had been moments before. It took her a little longer than normal to focus in on the rough bark of the trunk, but when she did, Isabella could see exactly what had caught Edward's attention.

Where her father had touched the tree a bright white light was emanating from it, giving it a heavenly glow. The part of the tree that glowed brightest was where he had left his message. Tiny swirls and knots in the bark were manipulated to form a word, a word written so small that not even vampire eyes would have picked it up. Isabella herself was struggling to make it out now that her enhanced vision was fading.

"Can you read it to me?" she asked Edward. He smiled sadly at her, acknowledging that she was slowly losing her powers the more time she spent in her human body.

"It's only one word. _Quintus_. Do you have any idea what that means?" Edward's brow was furrowed. It was not a word he had come across before in his one-hundred-and-four years on the planet.

"I do, actually. Quintus is a name, not a word. Translated it literally means fifth. My father is telling us we need to visit a friend of his. Quintus was the fifth Original in history. The Originals, before I was born, they were not born into the world. They came into existence as a gathering of energy. Quintus was the fifth God to form himself and when he came down to Earth, he loved being here so much he chose not to leave. He lost all of his powers in doing so but he is an immortal being, nobody will have seen as much of the world as he has."

Isabella was almost giddy with excitement. She couldn't believe she had forgotten all about her father's oldest and closest friend. However, all of that excitement fell away with Edward's next question.

"Okay, that's a good start. Now, where do we find this Quintus?"

Isabella had no idea where to start looking for the man. Much like the Cullens, Isabella could imagine that Quintus would need to move often to avoid arousing human suspicion. Either that or he would be living in one of the most remote parts of the world.

_Looks like Daddy's clue isn't that helpful after all. _

Edward noticed Isabella's face drop at his thought and he began searching his mind for some clue as to what they should do to find this Quintus. It took him a while to form any kind of plan but when he did Isabella's face began to brighten once again.

"The second dig site. Of course! My father would have split the messages up in case Evil had told Aro how to read them. We should leave for Russia now."

Edward allowed himself a small smile at the sight of Isabella's excitement but then his face fell sombre. He had never been to Russia before. How would he be able to picture the scenery clearly enough to get the two of them to where they needed to go?

"Don't worry Edward. Your father has visited the country before, we should probably check in with him and the rest of your family before we leave, to see if they have located Alice and Rosalie. You should be able to use his memories of Russia to get us there."

Why did it all sound so simple when Isabella mentioned it?

"That is definitely a plan. We have six days until we need to be in Ithaca. What would you like to do to fill the time?"

Isabella already knew what Edward would like to do. Instead of answering his question she took his hand and guided him back to the Amazon Rainforest.

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 20th 2005**

Aro had returned from his hunt in the early hours of the morning, having enjoyed playing with his meal before he consumed it. He liked giving the children the chance to escape, to scream for their mothers, only to come so close to their home before he snatched them back to drain dry. When he arrived back at the warehouse Jane and Alec were already there, standing alone at the very back of the building, whispering between each other. Amun had also returned with Rosalie's head wrapped in a large paper bag. Alice seemed to be in the exact same spot Aro had left her in.

Aro offered Amun a brief nod and the nomadic vampire removed the head from its wrappings, walked towards the rest of the body, which was still chained to the walls, and placed it carefully in line on top of her neck. As soon as the flesh mad contact, it began knitting itself back together, slowly joining skin, muscle, nerve and bone. Amun had never seen a vampire body reassemble itself before so he wasn't quite prepared for how long the process would take.

The sun had begun to rise when Rosalie let out an involuntary groan and her eyes flickered open. They were pitch black, the blood from her last hunt all consumed with the reattachment process.

Aro gave her just enough time to get her bearings – to realise where she was and who was with her - before commanding Alec to strip her of all but her sense of sound. Blind and paralyzed, Rosalie began to panic, until she felt the cool hand of Aro Volturi on her cheek.

"Mrs McCarty. I believe you and I need to have a very long talk."

Aro gave Rosalie a few moments to absorb his words before stepping away from her body. As soon as the command was given for Alec to lift his spell Rosalie began chanting in her mind, praying to The Originals that Isabella would hear her.

**Isabella? I need help. Help Me. Help. Me. HELP…**

Her last thought trailed off as a white hot fire ravaged her body. She screamed out in agony as Jane worked her own brand of evil on the defenceless vampire before her.

**Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, Peru January 20****th**** 2005**

Isabella was laughing loudly at the sight of Edward covered from head to toe in insects and arachnids of all shapes and sizes. He had sat on the ground, completely still, with the hopes of attracting a few to him. That had been four hours ago and now, the littlest residents of the Rainforest couldn't seem to get enough of him.

**Isabella? **

Isabella shook her head to clear it a little. She thought for a moment there she had heard someone call her name. She went back to watching Edward study the various creatures on his body.

**I need help. **

The second time the voice came Isabella knew she wasn't hearing things. She knew that voice. She had communicated with it exactly the same way only the day before.

**Help Me. **

_Rosalie? _She called back.

**Help. Me. HELP… **Rosalie's voice trailed off into the most agonising scream that Isabella had ever heard. Her pained sob caught Edward's attention immediately and he was by her side as soon as the harrowing noise left her mouth, insects and arachnids fleeing from his speed.

"Isabella? What is it? What's wrong?" His eyes were frantically moving between her face and their immediate surroundings, wondering if she had been hurt in some way.

"We need to leave. Now." She had barely choked out the words before Edward dropped into a low crouch, a snarl building in his chest. A quick scan of his thoughts told her that Rosalie wasn't the only member of the family in trouble. They had been followed from the dig site.

**Sorry for the delay with this chapter. Suffice to say bad things really do come in threes. There will be a delay with the next chapter as I am heading back home to help my in-laws clear out a home and plan a funeral but I will be back as soon as I can. **

**Thanks for reading. **


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight.**

**Thanks once again to Aisha Rotterdam, Chocaholic123 and SparrowNotes24 who find the time to work on this even though they are busy with their own fics and real life.**

**This chapter is especially dedicated to SparrowNotes24 after her fantastic news over the weekend. Congratulations huni. **

**WARNING: A brief warning before this chapter. Some of it is a little graphic in places. If you are overly sensitive to violence then feel free to skip over it. It's the paragraph that begins **_**That was it. **_

**Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, Peru January 20th 2005**

A group of seven vampires were fast closing in on Edward and Isabella. Scanning their thoughts, Edward could see it had been Isabella's scent that had given them both away. She smelled like nothing any of them had ever encountered before and it had drawn them away from their duties and into the rainforest. At first, all they had been doing was following the scent.

Then they had spotted Edward.

As soon as Aro had come up with Edward Masen's name, every vampire had been given his description. He had promised a position as his right hand man within The Guard to anyone who could bring Edward to him and every one of the non-gifted vampires who had been patrolling the site were desperate for that kind of glory.

They never dreamed _The One_ Aro had been so determined to find would be with the bronze haired vampire, and their thoughts swirled with the kind of praise and glory Aro would bestow upon them.

"Are we supposed to kill the girl or take her with us?" A big, burly vampire, who rivalled Emmett in size was leering at Isabella, and Edward's growling was becoming progressively louder and more vicious.

"I think we should have a little fun with her first," one his mates replied, flashing a wide, toothy grin in her direction. "Has anyone ever been inside that sweet smelling pussy of yours up in Heaven, baby?"

That was it. Isabella could almost hear Edward's last nerve snapping, and she grabbed his hand to ground him before he could launch himself at the slime ball. He wouldn't need to. She could already see what was about to happen. As Edward's glare intensified, the smile suddenly dropped from the face of the other vampire and was replaced with a look of pure confusion. He began grabbing at his clothing, pulling them away from his body as his friends looked on concerned. His look of confusion switched to one of horror only seconds before a loud and piercing scream rang out in the clearing. His friends took a step back, watching as his skin took on a faint orange glow that increased in intensity as his screams grew louder and more primal. Just as suddenly as they had started, the screaming cut off as flames burst from under the skin covering his body and soon, all that was left of the leering vampire was a scorch mark on the floor where he had been standing.

His friends shared a glance before they scattered, running in opposite directions with only one thought in their minds – to get the hell away from Edward Masen as fast as they could.

Isabella moved closer to Edward, gently scratching her nails along the base of his spine, just under his shirt, to try and calm him down. Even though breathing was unnecessary for a vampire, Edward was breathing hard. She waited for his breaths to slow and even out before moving in front of him and taking his face into her hands.

"It's okay, Edward. They are long gone now and I don't think they will be coming back anytime soon. You actually did us a favor, we can get onto the site now and see if my father has left us anything else. But we do have another problem." She looked scared and Edward hated seeing that look on her face. He never wanted her to be scared of him.

"I'm not, I'm just worried about how you are going to take my news," Isabella soothed, in answer to his unspoken concerns.

"I'm not going to burn you alive, I promise." Edward tried smiling at his comment but it was awkward. He was shocked at what he had done to the vampire. As twisted as his mind had been, Edward had never wanted to inflict that kind of suffering on him. He had made a promise to Carlisle long ago - he was not that kind of person anymore. Clearly, he was wrong.

"No, Edward. You're not. You are not that person. You got angry, and you have all of this new power running through your veins. It was boiling under the surface and found its own way out. I can assure you there was no conscious thought behind what you did. You didn't want to do that, the power took over." Isabella was trying desperately to get through to Edward but she had watched him all his life. She knew he would continue to worry about what had happened.

When he had returned from his rebellious stage in the twenties, he had tried desperately to lock the monster inside of him away, for good. He had gone out of his way to try and make amends for the lives he had taken, and to try and erase those memories from his beloved father's mind. He had been so determined that he thought he had succeeded and the monster inside of him had been locked away tight for many decades now. He was worried with this new power the monster inside would try and seize control and make his own play for supremacy. Hearing the conflict inside Edward's mind, Isabella knew she had to say something to put the issue to rest.

"That is never going to happen, Edward. The monster you are so concerned about doesn't exist. There is just you and your natural urges inside there," she tapped on the side of his forehead and then slid her fingers into his hair, twisting and pulling gently at the strands. "Vampires were born from evil, you know that and I know that. The fact your family can even live amongst humans is a remarkable achievement. _You_ are proof every living creature can be good, no matter what its origins. _You _are the reason why my parents and their brother's and sister's will fight this war. That, back there, was just a loss of control. Everyone has them, everyone slips and makes mistakes. It shows just how _human_ you are, underneath the vampire coating."

Edward smiled at Isabella's words and leaned further into her embrace. Her touch comforted him more than he could ever say but her words…her words were perfection. Just what he needed to hear to ease his conscience.

"Thank you, sweet girl." He placed a playful kiss to the tip of her nose before becoming more serious again. "Now, what were you going to tell me earlier?"

Isabella's face sobered when she remembered Rosalie's pained messages to her earlier in the evening. "I think Rosalie is in trouble. Just before we were surrounded, she called to me asking for help. Then, her messages were cut off with the most sickening scream I have ever heard. I haven't heard anything since."

Edward's face had darkened with every word that Isabella said. When she finished he took one, long, deep breath before exhaling through his mouth and turning to head back to where he had stashed his backpack.

"We need to call Carlisle."

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 20th 2005**

Rosalie sagged in her bonds, her body drained from the dismemberment earlier in the week and her mind abused from the attacks Jane and Alec had been launching her way, trying to extract information from her about the goddess that was now with the rest of her family.

Through it all, Alice had remained a constant in her line of vision. Her face was impassive as she watched her sister cry out in pain, writhing and twisting in her chains. She never said anything. She never did anything. If Rosalie hadn't been able to smell her, she would have presumed Alice was just a figment of her imagination.

"My dear, you are making this so much less enjoyable than it could have been," Aro approached Rosalie once again, his touch making her shiver and cringe away. She didn't even try to hide her reaction as he ran his withered fingers through her tangled hair. Memories from her human life flashed before her eyes and Rosalie vowed, when she got out of this place, she would see to Aro's destruction herself. "Just tell me where Edward and the girl are and then you will be free to go. Don't you want to go back to your family? Your mate?"

The mention of Emmett almost made Rosalie's resolve crumble but she knew Aro and his reputation. There was no way she would be leaving that warehouse alive without swearing allegiance to him. As much as she wished for one more chance to see her mate, to make amends and tell him just how much she loved him, how much of a blessing he had been in her life, she would not sell her family out. She would rather Aro kill her now, than after he had found Edward and Isabella.

"Bite me," she spat back at him. Aro simply shook his head and moved back to allow Jane to take her place. The wicked young girl did so with pleasure, a wide smile twisting her features and making her look every bit as inhuman as she was.

Once again, all coherent thought left Rosalie's body as a white hot fire made its way through her body, burning brighter and hotter with every second. This time, Rosalie did not give her captors the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

**Tacoma, Washington, USA January 20th 2005**

Carlisle and Esme had taken refuge in a hotel for the evening. Volturi Guards had been swarming all over Seattle and they couldn't take the risk of being caught. They knew if Aro managed to get his hands onto one of the family he would use them to get to Isabella. They couldn't allow that to happen.

Emmett and Jasper were still out searching. They couldn't stay still in a hotel room while their mates were missing. They had been over and over the scent trails looking for something new, something they could have missed. Every time they returned to the hotel they were more frustrated than the last. There were no traces at all of Alice or Rosalie in the surrounding areas.

Carlisle had just finished worshipping his wife and pulled her into his arms. While Isabella may be an actually goddess, Esme would always be his own personal goddess. She was everything he never knew he was missing, until she fell into his life almost a century ago. Now, he couldn't imagine life without her by his side. He would do anything to keep his beloved mate safe, even if that meant not being out on the streets searching for his missing daughters.

The ringing of his cell phone broke his inner peace and he unwound his arms from the beautiful woman within them to answer the call. He knew it would be important. Only Emmett, Jasper and Edward would have this number.

"Hello?"

"Dad, I have some bad news, are you all there?" Edward's voice was rushed and a slightly higher pitch than normal. He was panicking.

"No, Son. It's only Esme and I. Your brothers are out looking for Rosalie and Alice."

Edward sighed deeply. "I guess that may be for the best. We can discuss what to do calmly before Emmett gets involved."

"Emmett? Is this about Rose?" At Carlisle's question, Esme sat up, pulling the sheet tightly around her naked body.

"Yes. Isabella is able to communicate with her, telepathically, from any distance. She heard from Rose a few hours ago. She's in trouble, Dad. Isabella said she was begging for help before she began screaming. She hasn't been able to get through to her since then but she is certain Rose is still alive. She said the connection is there, it's like someone is blocking it."

"Fucking Alec and Jane," Carlisle cursed softly and his wife began gently rubbing his back, just between his shoulder blades. It was a move she had used for decades to comfort her husband when he needed her most and his cursing told her he most definitely needed her now.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Isabella can talk me through one of the gifts I have that will get me to Rosalie without being seen by whoever is hurting her. But I won't be able to help. She says it involves moving to the Higher Plane and I can only look, I can't touch. If I try, The Guard will see me and who knows what will happen then."

"Okay, so we do that. We find out where she is and who has her and then we find out how to rescue her, right?" Carlisle was becoming more and more worried with every word Edward spoke. As Esme's hand went to make its next pass, he grabbed a hold of it and gently tugged her onto his lap, the sheet falling to the bed and leaving her gloriously naked. He didn't even register the intimate position they had found themselves in. He was far too concerned for his family.

"We have another issue too."

Carlisle scrubbed his hand across his face in an incredibly human gesture of frustration.

"Isabella and I were spotted down here in Peru. When we were attacked, I managed to scare off the guard working on the excavation site. We have a few hours, maximum, until Aro finds out and sends someone to replace them. Someone more sadistic. We need to check the site and see if Isabella's father has left anything else for us before that happens."

Carlisle buried his face in his wife's neck, inhaling the sent that could only be described as pure Esme. He knew why Edward had called. He needed to know if he should save his sister first or the rest of the world.

"Go to the site. Keep asking Isabella to try Rosalie. See if she can get through Alec's gift, he will drop it eventually. Aro will ask him to do it so that she can recover some of herself or Rose will go insane and then she won't be able to give him any kind of information. As soon as you have what you need, do what you need to do and then call me. I'll find Jasper and Emmett and bring them back to the hotel to wait for your message."

"I love you, Dad." Edward ended the call and Carlisle fell back onto the bed feeling every bit his three-hundred-and-sixty-three years.

**Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, Peru January 20th 2005**

Edward and Bella made their way through the forest and back to the dig site quietly and quickly, keeping all of their senses on alert for anyone who may be following them. There was no one around and hopefully it would stay that way.

The site itself was bare. It had been combed over time and time again by Aro and his men, all of the artefacts were housed in a special warehouse close by. Edward gave it a good look over, hoping to find another message in the dirty but it looked like no god had ever been there before.

Instead, he and Isabella made their way to the warehouse, easily disabling the locks to get inside. Once again, the building was empty, the guards having given chase when they caught Isabella's scent and then ran away when they saw what Edward was capable of.

Everything recovered from the dig site had been cleaned up and placed into airtight glass display cases. Edward took his time, scanning each individual piece for any trace of the godly presence he had noticed with the tree. He found it in the third batch of items. A small piece of pottery, a chip really, that was glowing brightly.

"It's this. Your father touched this," he pointed the piece out to Isabella. "Do you have any idea why?"

Isabella reached out to gently remove the piece from the case before examining it closely. To the untrained eye it was junk. Just a broken piece of pottery from an old bowl or jug. However, Isabella had an incredibly well trained eye.

"It's not from the same era or location as the rest of these pieces. My father must have placed it there on purpose. See these markings here?" She pointed to the small designs that had been cut off when the piece was broken. "I've seen them before. They are part of an ancient Chinese language. My father is telling us where to find Quintus."

Her face lit up with the realisation that they had managed to solve the first piece of their puzzle.

A noise in the distance caught their attention and they both froze. They could hear footsteps approaching their location and the closer they came, the clearer their thoughts became.

"Shit, Aro has sent others here. We need to go." Edward grabbed Isabella's hand and before he could think about what he was doing the two of them found themselves back on American soil. This time they appeared in the cool grey light of early morning, overlooking three headstones at a cemetery. Isabella glanced down to see the familiar sight of Edward Senior and Elizabeth Masen's final resting place.

"You're getting better at controlling this."

"Sorry, it was the first place I could think of," Edward admitted quietly. His hand had already reached out to trace the lettering on his own headstone. Isabella gave him a few moments of silence. She knew he didn't come back here often; it was frustrating for Edward to return to a place that he had spent so long in, but couldn't remember. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him, offering her silent support and vowed to herself that when this mess was over, she would show Edward everything she could about his life before his change.

**Seattle, Washington, USA January 20th 2005**

Jane stepped back, huffing a little. What good was it being able to torture someone if you couldn't hear them screaming in pain, begging for mercy? She was becoming frustrated and Aro knew he needed to send her away before she lost her temper. She had done it once before and every guard in Volterra had suffered.

After ending his call he turned to the young woman in front of him. "Jane, Sweet Jane, why don't you go and find yourself a snack? Build your energy up again so you can fully enjoy this tomorrow." Jane smiled angelically at her master, kissed his cheek in much the way a beloved daughter would kiss her father, and then skipped out of the warehouse.

Rosalie used the time she had free to call out to Isabella again. She wasn't going to waste a precious second of her mental freedom.

**Isabella? Can you hear me? I need help. Aro has me, he's torturing me for information about you. Get me out of here. Please! **

She repeated her thoughts on a continuous loop, praying that the goddess would catch something, anything to help her family find her.

"Well, it looks like your brother and this so called goddess have been found." All of Rosalie's attention snapped to Aro's face. He couldn't have them, could he? "Edward managed to incinerate one of my Guard with just a look." The look on Aro's face was maniacal. All he could think about was getting his hands on that kind of power. He wouldn't need Evil then, he could rule this world alone. As Aro lost himself in his own dreams of world domination, Isabella finally broke through the block between their metal connection.

_Rosalie, I'm here. Hang in there. Edward is on his way. He's going to find you and then we will come for you. Stay strong, your family is on their way. _

Isabella's voice in her mind was the last thing Rosalie heard before Alec stole her senses, leaving her deaf, blind and mute.

**Thanks for reading, all your reviews, alerts and favourites. They mean the world to me. I think I got all teasers out to reviewers but I am sorry if I missed you. **

**Special shout-out to Lel2768 for being review 200! **


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